The Girl With The Red Ribbon
by ColorMeKissable
Summary: Everything was going absolutely peachy. That is, until she met him. Who knew that one person could turn her life into complete and utter chaos?
1. At First Glace

A/N: Hey, this is something I've had in my head for a while, and I just wanted to get it out there. If you don't like, then don't read. It's as simple as that. Constructive criticism is welcomed. I will try to make this as un-mary-sueish as possible.

**THE GIRL WITH THE RED RIBBON**

A soft sigh escaped her lips as she intertwined a fire-engine red ribbon into her ponytail. Today was a new day. She would be starting over a new leaf. The angst-ridden torn up girl she had previously been, would be no more. Her personality makeover would begin as soon as she stepped out the front door.

"Elly, let's move it, you're going to be late!" Sabrina Brightman hollered up the spiral staircase.

Elly shut her eyes for a moment, and time froze. Today, Ellisabeth Charlotte Brightman would forget her life at Beauxbaton's Academy of Magic, and move on to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And according to her mother, she would go without a fuss. She opened her hazel eyes, "Yes, mother dearest."

"Do I hear sarcasm, young lady?!"

"No, mother." Elly trotted down the stairs as slowly as she could, for who knew when she would next be back at the place she had called home for the past sixteen years of her life.

All too soon did Elly and her mother arrive at King's Cross Station, and all too soon did Elly's mother leave her alone to fend for herself. It was like being in the wilderness, never knowing if there was a ferocious lion behind you waiting to pounce and serve you for its dinner that night. But of course there was no hungry lion waiting behind Elly. She was just being her usual paranoid self. A quality about herself that she in fact hated. Elly wasn't what muggles called 'Gisele Bündchen' beautiful, but she wasn't a plain Jane type either. She couldn't fit into a size two, no matter how much she sucked in, but she wasn't in need of a diet. Despite the fact that her working out caused her friends to double over in laughter of the mere thought of it. She was indescribable, except for the trademark red ribbon that she always wore in her dark brown hair. Elly was Elly. And today, she was a new person, ready to start a new chapter of her life.

Elly rolled her eyes as the fifth person, or so she thought, bumped into her while trying to find a compartment.

"Oh gosh, I'm terribly sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!"

_No dip, Sherlock. Ugh, I have GOT to stop being so cynical. _"Oh it's alright. I'm probably causing the world's biggest cockblock in the history of cockblocks." Elly said, accepting her apology with a twang of American slang.

"You're new, aren't you?" She smiled.

"Am I that obvious?"

She laughed lightly, "I'm Cho Chang," we shook hands. "Would you care to join me in my compartment if you're not already sitting with someone else?"

"I'd like that." She smiled genuinely, which was different for her.

They made their way to her compartment of the train, making small talk on the way. Elly learned that she was in her seventh year at Hogwarts, and was in a house called Ravenclaw. By the time they had gotten to the compartment, they were laughing like they'd been friends forever. Cho wasn't a fake bitch, and Elly was down with that.

Cho opened the door of the compartment to reveal it almost full of people. "Everybody this is Elly, and she's fantastic!" The girls burst out laughing.

After the girls settled down, Cho's handsome boyfriend Cedric spoke up, "So where are you from?" He grinned lightly.

"Ze lovely Beauxbaton's." Elly said with a horrible fake French accent. Cho and she started cracking up again.

"You don't sound French." Cho's friend Marietta said snootily.

"That's because I'm a good ol' Yankee." Elly mimicked her snobbish tone.

Marietta glared and went back to filing her nails, muttering something about stupid Americans.

"An American at Hogwarts?" Cedric said, almost in awe.

"So it seems." Marietta sneered.

"Yes, Marietta. There will be an American at Hogwarts. Don't act like your life is over. I'm sure it's happened before. So do us all a favor, and take an extra large dosage of shut the fuck up." Elly said in an almost calm manner, despite the fact that her insides were boiling.

Marietta blinked a few times, "I-I'm going to g-go change into my-my r-robes." She exited the compartment.

"Thank god, that girl was about to get some serious bitch slapping." Elly said, exasperated.

"Ding dong the wicked witch is dead!" Cedric exclaimed.

"Cedric!" Cho slapped him playfully. But she was trying very hard not to smile.

Suddenly the train lurched to a stop, and everybody filed out in an orderly manner. Or so they tried to. Elly was laughing at something Cedric had said, when her eyes met someone else's. They were the iciest shade of blue one could imagine, and they gave Elly shivers. Something she never got. But as soon as the eyes were there, they were gone.

"Elly, are you okay?" Cho asked, slightly concerned, as they stepped into a carriage.

"Oh, yeah, I'm just dandy." She smiled at her.

Cho smiled again. "You're going to be sorted soon! I'm so excited!"


	2. Many Meetings

A/N: The first chapter was a bit short, so I've made this one longer, because I'm so generous! And just a little note; this takes place during Harry's 6th year. But I've made it so that Cedric and Cho are in their seventh year, and Elly is also a 6th year.  read&review

Elly had completely forgotten about the sorting. How a ratty old hat could see inside your mind was beyond comprehendible for her.

Cho and Cedric wished her luck as they took their seats at their respectable House tables.

"Brightman, Elly." A stern voice told Elly to come up to the stool.

Elly cautiously stepped up, and sat down on the stool.

"Aha! Tough, tough, tough decision!" A silky voice rang out in Elly's head.

"Oh, my god." Elly let out a gasp, and promptly fell off the stool.

The great hall roared with laughter, as Elly stood up, red with embarrassment. "I'm okay, guys, really, thanks for asking!" She said in a fake tone.

The Sorting Hat was once again placed atop her head. The hat seemed puzzled for a minute before shouting out, "RAVENCLAW!"

The Ravenclaw table cheered as Elly joined them, sitting next to Cho.

"I'm so glad you made Ravenclaw!" Cho beamed and hugged her.

Elly looked around the marvelous hall in amazement. She looked ahead of her to what she now knew as the Slytherin table. And there they were again…those eyes. They were starring right at her, like they were boring into her soul. Elly broke the trance between them, and nudged Cho. "Cho, who's that boy with the really blonde hair at the Slytherin table?"

Cho's face scrunched up in disgust. "That's Draco Malfoy…you don't want to get involved in his crowd…his parents are death eaters for You-Know-Who."

"Oh…" Elly stared at him again. There was something about this Draco Malfoy. And she wasn't going to figure it out by just looking at his eyes. Although Elly had to admit, they were pretty to look at.

The first half of the first day of classes flew by for Elly. She quickly became acquainted with the school and her teachers. She even tolerated a certain Potions professor. Elly smiled to herself as she stepped out of the Great Hall after a very filling lunch. She was going to be a size sixty by the time the year ended. Elly began humming to herself as she skipped down the hallway, on her way to Potions. Suddenly she felt a powerful object push her to the ground, and then quickly roll off her.

'So sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!"

Elly stared into the boys stunning green eyes. What were with Hogwarts boys eyes?! "Obviously." She sneered in disgust.

The boy gulped as he adjusted his glasses. "Honestly, please forgive me!"

Elly couldn't keep a straight face anymore, and started laughing. "Chill, man. I'm just messing with you."

The boy let out a huge sigh of relief. "I'm Harry. Harry Potter."

"Hello, Harry, Harry Potter. I'm Elly."

"You're the American!" He smiled.

"I guess I'm now the _American_, and no longer Elly." Elly frowned.

"I'd much rather be known by my nationality than dubbed as _The Chosen one_." Harry frowned as well.

"I guess you have a point…The Chosen One sounds like a clash between Lord of the Rings and Star wars." Elly shook her head in disgust.

"Lord of the What?"

"Muggle pop culture." Elly brushed it off. "Care to walk me to Potions, Harry?"

Harry was taken aback by her forwardness, "I was just going to suggest that since you were going the wrong way."

"That's to be expected of me," Elly rolled her eyes.

Harry chuckled. "Well in that case, I'd be honored to walk you to Potions, Elly."

They walked into the cave like potions classroom, all happiness immediately being sucked out at the sight of their greasy-haired professor.

Potter, Ms. Brightman…so nice to see you arrive on time." Snape glared at us.

"Take a chill pill professor, there's still like five minutes before class starts." Elly rolled her eyes.

"Fifty points from Ravenclaw." Snape glared.

"What?!" Harry and Elly yelled at the same time.

"Would you like me to make that one hundred points?!"

"No, professor." Elly mumbled quietly. She knew she had made a bad first impression. She also knew Snape was one to hold a grudge.

"Now, I will be assigning your potions partners for the rest of the year," Snape began. "Weasly with Goyle."

Elly saw a redhead bash a text book against his head.

"Potter with Parkinson." Elly snickered at Harry's misfortune was cut short by Snape.

"Malfoy and Brightman."

Her stomach churned at the sight of the blue eyed blondie staring right at her. She slowly walked to where he was sitting and sat down. Elly pretended to listen to Snape as she zoned in and out of thought. She was zoned back in as she opened a note that she assumed to be from Draco. It read; _who are you?_ Elly replied, _whoever you want me to be._

Draco raised an eyebrow as what Elly would soon learn to know as his trademark, a smirk crossed his lips. "That's quite flirtatious of you."

"What can I say, I'm a flirtatious girl." Elly winked at him.

"You should have been in Slytherin."

"Ravenclaw's lucky they have me."

"Aren't you the modest one."

"Not modest, just honest."

Draco laughed. "You are definitely an American."

"Yes and she has a name. Elly." Elly wrinkled her nose at him.

"I can tell by the accent." Draco smirked.

"Well I like your accent too, thanks very much."

"Ms. Brightman, would you like to share your conversation with the rest of the class?" Snape said menacingly.

"Sure, Professor." Elly smiled and walked towards the front of the classroom. "First, let me introduce myself. The name's Elly, although commonly known around here as the American. I like smoothies, field hockey, lacrosse, and have an unhealthy obsession with a muggle television show called the O.C. Any questions?"

The class stared in shock, except for Harry who was quietly snickering.

"As I was saying to Draco, and what I will now share with you is that I flipping love your accents." The class laughed as Snape gritted his teeth. "Anything else professor?" Elly smiled innocently.

"Get out of my classroom."

"Alrighty, later kiddies." And with that, Elly skipped out of the dungeon.

"Ms. Brightman, what are you doing out of class?" A light voice asked from behind her.

Elly turned to come face to face with Professor Dumbledore. "Yeah…uhm, you see…Professor Snape kind of kicked me out of class. I guess I got on his bad side."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled mischievously. "I'll talk to Professor Snape, but perhaps you'd like to explore the school some more? It's quite magnificent."

"Thanks, Professor! I think I'll do just that." Elly smiled and skipped away. She rejoiced in the fact that her new headmaster was so lax about backtalkers. Elly soon arrived at the Lake, and was walking around it, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Harry, accompanied by the same redhead from Potions and a bushy haired brunette.

"Elly!" Harry smiled when he saw her.

"Hey, Harry." Elly returned his grin.

"That was brilliant, what you did back in Potions." The redhead said in awe.

"Well I wasn't going to let Snape get on my case without a fight." Elly smirked.

"This is Ron and Hermione." Harry introduced them.

"Hey, guys." Elly smiled warmly at them while adjusting her trademark red ribbon.

"I have to say, you behaved admirably, considering you're paired with Malfoy for the rest of the year." Hermione said.

"Believe me, if anyone knows how to handle an asshole, it's me. So if he tries anything, I'll make sure he won't be able to reproduce."

Ron looked taken aback.

"Pardon my language." Elly said, placing a hand over her mouth.

"I don't think Ron's ever met someone who has the courage to stand up to Malfoy." Hermione said, gesturing to Ron's open mouth.

"Hey, I'm not afraid of Malfoy!" Harry shouted.

"You're a guy Harry, you don't count." Elly snickered.

Harry looked like he was about to say something, but closed his mouth, as Hagrid walked out of his hut.

"Why hello Harry, Hermione, Ron!" He said happily.

"Hi, Hagrid!" The trio chorused in unison.

"Who are you?" He asked looking at Elly.

"Elly Brightman, I have you fourth block."

"Oh righ'! You're the transfer student from Beauxbaton's."

"Finally! I wasn't referred to as the _American_!" Elly squealed in delight, "You rock, dude."

They all looked at her oddly.

"What? I suggest we ban stereotypes!"

"I completely agree with you!" Hermione gushed.

Elly smirked at Harry and Ron.

"Well you four best be off. It was nice meeting yeh, Elly." Hagrid waved us off.

The four of us were walking towards the Great Hall, when Elly heard someone call my name.

"Elly, we're having a welcome back party in the Ravenclaw common room! Come on!" Cho called, not even glancing at Harry.

"Sorry, guys, but the party's calling!" Elly waved to them as Cho pulled me away.

"I like her, even if she is friends with Cho." Hermione wrinkled her nose in disgust at Cho's name.

"Did you hear about her telling off Marietta Edgecombe on the train though? _Would you please take an extra large dose of shut the fuck up_!" Ron quoted Elly back in the Gryffindor common room.

As Ron and Hermione laughed, Harry's lips stretched into a goofy grin.

"Harry, are you okay? Your scar's not hurting, is it?" Hermione asked concerned.

Harry snapped out of his thoughts about Elly, "I'm fine, Hermione." _This was ridiculous_, he thought. He barely knew the girl, and yet he was acting like a lovestruck teenager. But wasn't that what he was? Him, Hermione, or Ron did NOT want another Cho case on their hands. But somehow, Harry knew that Elly was nothing like Cho.


	3. Quick Wit is a Turnon

A/N: This is where things start to pick up. I know the first two chapters were kind of slow, but that was just setting everything up. So, if you readers would be so kind as to review, well then you'd all just be the most nifty-est people out there! Maybe you'll be able to find my homage to Pearl Harbor in here, which is my favorite movie in the world. Kay, that's all. Peace.

--

_I stop to catch my breath, and I stop to catch your eye_

_No need to second guess that you've been on my mind_

_I'm day dreams away but that's okay, I like to hear a silent sound_

_And then hold it in my hand_

_But a rose won't blossom from the ground or on desert sand._

--

Elly yawned for what must've been the hundredth time that day, as she walked to History of Magic; her first class that day.

"Just to inform you, Ms. Brightman, you have detention at eight o' clock tonight." A voice said from behind her.

Elly whipped around to find a face she did not want to see this early in the morning. "For what?" She said, still half asleep.

Snape glared at her.

"Let me rephrase that, why do I have detention, Professor?" Elly frowned at him.

"You have detention to make up for your outraged and erratic behavior in my class yesterday.

Boy did Elly want to give Snape a piece of her mind, but she refrained by biting her tongue. "Fine. I shall see you tonight at eight." Elly said and briskly walked away.

"You handled that rather well."

Elly looked up to see Draco staring at her. "Okay, what is with you randomly popping up in front of me?!"

"Admit it, you like it." Draco's arrogant smirk crossed his face.

"You're right…I do." Elly smirked and walked closer to him.

"Good, because so do I." Draco moved closer to her.

They were so close their noses were almost touching.

"You know, they never taught us how to deal with this feeling at Beauxbatons," Elly whispered in his ear.

"What feeling?" Draco could feel her breath on his ear.

"Well, it's kind of like this…" Elly slipped a nosebleed nogurt into his mouth, flipped him off, and walked away.

Draco Malfoy stood there, not sure what to think. Part of him was incredibly pissed off, and the other part of him was in awe and amazement of the American girl, Elly Brightman. Something about her caught Draco off guard. That bugged him. He needed to find out more about her. She was like a spreading infection, and he liked it. But for the most part he was pissed off, and looking forward to his next potions class.

Elly walked into History of Magic slightly depressed. She began doodling on her desk, not really caring that she was vandalizing school property. She looked up to see Harry and Ron sitting down on either side of her.

"Hello, sunshine." Ron said to her.

"Yo, red." Elly sniggered.

"So what are your plans for tonight? There's a party in the room of requirement if you want to-"

"You know, I'd really love to but a certain greasy haired Professor who needs to get laid gave me a detention!" Elly said rather bitterly.

"For what?" Harry and Ron asked at the same time.

"For my _erratic and outrageous behavior_."

Ron patted her on the shoulder, "That's slightly depressing."

"Is the Weasel making a move on you already, Brightman?" Came the loud voice of Draco. His nose looked considerably better.

"Last name terms already Malfoy? Ouch. But that's okay, I'm sure I can think of a bunch of other rad names to call you!" Elly smirked.

"Like…?"

"Oh something along the lines of arrogant, conceited, womanizing, selfish, and don't forget cocky bastard."

"Impressive, but I thought I should tell you that Madame Pomfrey said I could've died from blood loss."

"That would've been fantastic." Harry muttered under his breath.

"What was that, Potter?"

"Your mom." Harry glared.

Elly almost fell out of her chair laughing. "I love you, Harry," Harry blushed a crimson red.

Draco ignored Harry and looked at Elly, "What do you say we do something tonight?" He looked at Ron and Harry, "Alone."

Elly bit her lip, "Sorry, Malfoy, but our kinky love notes from yesterday got me a detention."

Malfoy was about to say something when Professor Binns interrupted him, "To your seat, Mr. Malfoy. Learn now, flirt later."

The class laughed as Draco put his head down in embarrassment.

"Did Draco Malfoy just ask you out?" Harry said not quite believing it.

"I think he did ask her out, mate." Ron answered.

"Don't worry boys; I know Malfoy's a dirty toe rag."

"Fantastic." They said in unison.

"Good evening, Ms. Brightman." Snape said in a not-so-chipper voice.

"Well since I'm serving detention, I wouldn't exactly call it a good evening…"

"Hush."

Elly went mute.

"As I was saying, you'll be serving detention with Madame Pince tonight in the library."

Elly snapped her fingers, "Darn, I wanted to go scuba diving with the giant squid!"

Snape glowered, "now is not the time for sarcasm, Ms. Brightman, that is unless you want another fortnight's worth of detentions. And trust me, I can make them worthwhile."

Elly was slightly creeped out, "Okay, I'll shut up."

"Thank you." Snape led her to the large library.

Madame Pince glared at Elly, "Is this your student with the behavior problem, Severus?"

BHAVIOR PROBLEMS?! This was pure bull shit.

"Why yes, it is."

"She'll be re arranging the book shelves. All of them." She grinned wickedly.

"Fifty down, only about one hundred thousand to go."

"I see you're taking your time." Draco said from the shadows.

"Ah, I was wondering when you were going to show up. You know, I really should have a Draco Radar. Kind of like a gaydar, but not for gays. Unless you're not telling me something."

"You're so funny." He said sarcastically.

"So what brings you here? Oh wait, I know, you couldn't survive another moment without me!" Elly tried to reach the top of the shelf.

"I figured you may need some company," Draco gently grabbed the book from her hand and put it on the top shelf with ease."

"I'm touched. You'd rather spend your Friday night with me, rather than go to that banging party in the Room of Requirement."

"Don't flatter yourself, Brightman. Why would I want to get smashed with a bunch of Gryffindors?"

"Who knows? I would, getting wasted sounds pretty nice to me right now."

"I'd never think of you as the partying type."

Elly looked at him straight in the eyes, "Honestly, I'm not. I'd much rather read a good book instead of getting high. I have absolutely no sympathy for people who do drugs or get drunk all the time. If they want to screw up their life, fine by me, just don't bring me into it." She shoved another book on the shelf rather forcefully.

Draco looked at her. "I respect that…"

"Really? But YOU seem like the type who loves the girls who get high all the time, and practically THROW themselves at you, just to be able to get a quick shag with the Slytherin sex god!"

Draco frowned slightly, "Sex isn't all I think about. And wasn't it you that said to BAN stereotypes?"

Elly laughed bitterly, "Of course it is. And not just you, I'm speaking on behalf of all the boys at Hogwarts!"

Draco smirked, "You're not like all the other girls."

Elly but her book down, "Of course I'm not, that would suck. I mean, why go through life unnoticed?"

Draco studied her for a moment, "I think I'm going to go hit that party in the Room of Requirement, Smoke some weed, get smashed and skip Transfiguration tomorrow."

Elly's jaw dropped in disgust, "You pig. Have fun with your hangover."

Draco smirked and walked away, ignoring Elly's frequent curses at him. Pushing her buttons was quickly becoming one of his favorite hobbies.

--

Lyrics by Kate Voegele


	4. Thinking With Reproductive Organs

A/N: Hopefully, I'll get more reviews this time. I've seem to hit an all time shortage…

--

Elly stormed into the Ravenclaw common room, agitated and tired at around two in the morning. And before you ask, yes she finally finished her detention at two in the morning. As soon as she walked in, her path was blocked by Cho and Cedric making out. "Oh that's hot, can I join?!" She said sarcastically.

Cedric and Cho broke apart immediately. "What are you doing back so late, Elly, it's past midnight!" Cho exclaimed.

"A lovely Potions teacher gave me friggin detention for my erratic behavior in his class!" Elly screamed in rage.

Cedric doubled over in laughter, "erratic behavior!" He panted in between laughs.

Cho and Elly exchanged glances, "What's so funny?"

"That's just the thing I can see Elly getting in trouble for."

Cho looked at him weirdly. "Elly, Harry Potter stopped by asking where you were."

"Oh, cool."

"I think he likes you!"

Elly shifted uncomfortably.

"And judging by that face, you don't feel the same way…" Cho trailed off.

"It's Malfoy isn't it? Cedric said sternly.

"Malfoy…? As in Draco Malfoy, the little womanizing manwhore?!"

Cedric and Cho stared at each other.

"Fuck!" Elly yelled, obviously mad.

"Cho and I heard him talking to his lackeys the other day, he said, and I quote, '_I bet that Brightman is a great shag. And the best part is, I'll get her cheap._"

Elly blinked, and then fumed with anger, "That little bitch. I'm going to shoot him until he dies. Oh it is ASS kicking time!"

"Elly, where are you going?"

She smirked wickedly and she looked not that different from Draco, "To plot, duh."

"We shouldn't have set her off…" Cho said worriedly.

"Personally, I think Malfoy deserves a good beating." Cedric said thoughtfully.

--

Elly groaned when her alarm went off all too soon the next morning. Then she remembered her plan for today. She bolted upright, and ran into the Great Hall, still in her tank top and flannel plaid pajama pants. Her hair was tussled and she still had on her sleeping mask. She went straight to the Slytherin table, completely ignoring Harry who was trying to catch up with her. "Get up Malfoy." She growled.

Malfoy smirked, "I knew you'd rethink your decision about what I asked you in Charms yesterday, although I must say, you look quite spectacular in your wardrobe choice today.

Elly gave him a look of steel, "If I were you, I'd shut your fucking mouth if you ever want to reproduce."

His eyes went wide.

Elly smacked him as hard as she could, leaving a red handprint across his otherwise, flawless cheek.

Every student in the Great Hall's eyes was on the pair.

"What the fuck is your problem?!" She screamed.

"W-what are you talking about?" Malfoy stuttered as he clutched his throbbing jaw.

"Oh don't you play dumb! I know about how you think I'll be such a great little shag for you! And let me tell you Malfoy, over my dead body will you have the chance even TOUCH me!"

"Elly, I honestly-"

"I don't want to hear it! I've known you for THREE days, and I'm fucking sick of you! You need to get it through your thick skull that just because you START the shit, doesn't mean you ARE the shit!"

"BURNNNNN!" A random person from the Gryffindor table yelled.

"Elly!"

"If you value your manhood at all, I STRONGLY suggest you stay away from me! And you know what? You won't even be able to think with your penis anymore, because when I'm through with you, you won't even have it!" Elly gave him the look of death then walked away. So maybe she was a little harsh to Malfoy. But how dare he even THINK that she would ever sink that low. Oh no, that thought would never cross his mind again.

"They like each other." Cho whispered to Cedric.

Cedric frowned, "What makes you think that? She was getting ready to feed his bones to the sharks!"

"Isn't it obvious? If it weren't for Elly strangling him, they'd be snogging!"

Harry stepped up to him, "Nice going, Malfoy."

"Piss off, Pot head."

--

"Uhm, Elly…can I come in…?" A cautious voice came from outside Elly's dormitory.

There was no answer; the only thing heard was a catchy chorus along the lines of, '_You are the music in me!'_

Cedric Diggory knocked harder. "Elly, PLEASE open up!" When he had yet to hear a response, he walked in. Elly was dressed in work-out clothes, and has seemingly conjured a punching bag, and seemed really into it. Cedric tapped her on the shoulder. Thinking he was an unwanted intruder, Elly spun around and gave him a nice punch that was bound to leave a mark.

"Oh, shit, Cedric, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize it was you, I thought it was someone like Malfoy or Zabini," Elly apologized profusely.

"Well, if that's the greeting you give Malfoy as it is, then by all means don't let me stop you," he let out a small chuckle, despite the painful throbbing in his jaw.

Elly laughed to, "Yeah, I'm really sorry, did I break anything?"

"I think I'll live. I didn't know it was possible to do such an intense work out to High School Musical!"

"What can I say? It gets my blood pumping! But keep it on the down low."

Cedric laughed, and then gave her a stern look, "Elly, look, I did something really bad…"

"You raped Ginny Weasly, didn't you!?" Elly gasped sarcastically.

"I don't believe in sexual assault."

"Good boy! So what's this really horrible news?"

"What Malfoy said about you was complete bullshit."

"I don't think so; I can totally imagine that coming out of his dirty mouth."

"So can I, but what he said about you was a complete lie. Pure fabrication."

Elly looked at him skeptically, "How can you be sure about that?"

Cedric sighed. "For a Ravenclaw you sure are slow."

"I'll choose to ignore that comment."

A small smile appeared on his lips then quickly faded. "I made it up."

"You made it up?! Fabricated a rumor? About me?!"

"Uhm, yeah, I did."

"May I ask why you did something so STUPID?!"

"I-I don't know…I saw you two together and…"

Elly's frown turned into a knowing grin, "You're jealous…"

"What? That's absurd!"

"It's okay Cedric, I completely understand. I mean, you're a handsome dude, you're used to getting all the girls, and then Draco comes along, and starts some _competition_."

"I'm not jealous of Malfoy."

Elly bit her lip, "Okay, so I'll just go snog and make up with him." She made a move to exit her dorm."

"Elly, please, don't do that!"

"I thought so." Elly's face turned serious. "Look, Cedric, you're a really amazing guy, and, you'd give any Abercrombie and Fitch model a run for their money because you're so insanely good looking…but, you can't do this to Cho…she was my first friend here, and I don't want to see her get hurt." Elly focused her eyes on the intricate pattern of the carpet. This was riciculous. Cedric shouldn't like her. What was so great about her? Nothing popped into her mind. The she remembered, all teenage guys think with their reproductive organs. Yep, that had to be it.

Cedric frowned, "Don't worry about it Elly, you're right. It wouldn't be fair to Cho. But I just don't want you getting hurt."

Elly smiled, "You're such a sweetie." She gave him a nice big hug that explained everything words couldn't. Aside from that, it made it slightly less awkward than what it already was.

"You're a great girl Elly."

"Thanks, Ced that means a lot to me."

Cedric grinned, "Good night."

"Nighty night."

--

REVIEW! Feedback makes me a better writer!!


	5. Broom Cuppoard Confessions

A/N: Hopefully, I'll get more reviews this time. I've seem to hit an all time shortage, and it's very saddening…

--

Elly awoke the next morning feeling rejuvenated. She quickly got dressed and skipped down to the great hall. As she was walking, she felt something or rather someone tug her into the convenient broom closet.

"I'm sorry I had to do this Elly, but it was the only way." Draco said.

"The only way you could talk to me was to hold me hostage in this really cramped up broom closet? How cliché."

"Look, it was convenient!"

"Do you have a death wish?"

"Some times I think I do. Look, I need you understand that I didn't say those things about you. It was complete rubbish!"

"Mhm…"

"Look, I need you to forgive me! Do I have to beg? Because I will."

Elly sighed, "You're pathetic. Get up."

"Please…Elle,"

"Why do you need me to forgive you so much?"

"For a Ravenclaw you're slow…"

"Alright! Enough with the slow Ravenclaw jokes!"

"Well if I wasn't obvious enough, I like you! More than I should…" He said the last part quietly.

"That's really convincing."

"Just shut up and listen!"

His harsh tone surprised her. Was Draco Malfoy really confessing his feelings in front of her? And on top of that confessing that he had more feelings for her than hate? What was wrong with the world?!

"I hate you, Elly. I really hate you."

"You pull me into this claustrophobic broom closet, tell me that you have feelings for me, and then you tell me that you hate me?" she yelled incredulous.

"I hate you because you throw me off. I hate you because you're always creeping into my mind. I hate you because you don't throw yourself at my feet. I hate you because you socialize with Potter, Mudblood, and Weasel. And most of all, I hate you because I can't hate you. No matter how hard I try, no matter how much I want to, no matter how much I need to," he finished.

Elly looked at him. Half of her was furious that he would think of them as more than two people spewing insults back and forth at each other. The other half of her was extremely curious as to why he thought of her that way, and when he decided that he was madly in love with her. And a the tiniest sliver of her was getting gooey because his declaration was rather sweet. But that was just a sliver, mind you.

Draco groaned in frustration at her silence. "I thought it was romantic."

"I know you never said those things about me. Cedric told me he made it all up…"

"You mean you made me be all mushy and crap, and you knew all along?!"

"Uh, yeah."

"I'm going to screw up Diggory's face."

"No, you're going to be mature about this and forget about it."

"God, Elly, you're going to be the downfall of me."

"Then my work here will be done." Elly winked at him and casually walked away.

--

"Now, who can tell me how a bezoar-" Snape was interrupted as Elly walked though the dungeon door.

"Brightman, you've missed a whole period." Snape glared at her.

"You mean…I'm pregnant?"

The whole Potions class roared with laughter, as Snape turned crimson with anger. "I certainly will NOT tolerate ANY of your outrageous behavior anymore! You foolish child!

"So what are you going to do, kick me out? Hate to say it, but that doesn't teach me anything."

"I would watch your mouth, Miss Brightman; I know things about you that could make your insides churn…"

Unsaid things passed between the two, as the Potions class calmed down.

"My behavior was uncalled for, professor, it won't happen again." Elly backed down, admitting defeat.

"I would hope so, Miss Brightman." The conversation was over.

Elly calmly walked to her seat in the back of the classroom, ignoring Draco's questioning look.

He opened his mouth to say something.

"Don't even ask." Elly replied shortly, pretending to concentrate on her work, when her mind was obviously elsewhere.

--

Elly ran. As much as she hated it; and trust me, she did, but it was her escape. She had no clue where she was going, but she ran until her legs gave out. She looked behind her for a moment, just to make sure she was alone…then pulled out a silver flask from her pocket and took a long swig. She welcomed the soothing taste of vodka, as it slid down her throat. That was of course after her extensive coughing fit. She knew she should have brought something to dilute it. Thoughts swirled in her head. Elly knew she shouldn't be doing this…but quite frankly she didn't give a fuck. Her secret wasn't a secret anymore; it was only a matter of time before- NO. She wouldn't let that happen, under any circumstance. She took another gulp of the bitter liquid, and another one after that. Not soon after her vision was blurred, and everything was spinning. However she did hear someone calling her name frantically. She looked up at whom else but Draco Malfoy annoyed. "What do you want?" Her words came out slurred.

"Are you drunk?"

Elly giggled at his stupidity. "Hell yeah!"

"Alright, let's get you back to the school…"

"No way, this is fun!"

"You're not thinking clearly, you need to stop!"

"I know I'm not thinking clearly, I'm soooo drunk!" Elly put her hand on the tree to steady herself.

"Really, I wouldn't have guessed." Draco replied sarcastically.

Elly giggled again, "I love being drunk…because when you're drunk, you can do anything. You're free from your inhibitions. And when I'm drunk, I can do this," And with that said, she kissed him.

A million things went through Draco's mind. His head was screaming at him to stop, to be responsible, but his heart was making him to the opposite. He couldn't help but find himself kissing back, tasting the alcohol on her addictive lips.


	6. Hogwarts Goes Knocked Up

A/N: This chapter includes harsh language, so if that stuff offends you, pretend they're nice words!

And please, please review!!

Elly smiled in her sleep as she pulled the covers over her more. She turned over only to find a lump on the left side of the bed. Funny…there wasn't usually a lump in the bed. She opened her eyes to investigate. She quickly snapped her eyes shut again, trying to erase the image that burned her eyes. She cautiously opened one eye…the lump was still there. But she now knew that it wasn't a lump. It was a body. A very _hot_ body. A body that could only belong to someone with the name Draco Malfoy.

Draco groaned in his sleep.

"Oh god," Elly whispered in horror. She quickly looked under the covers to see her self indeed nude. "Oh no, oh no, oh fuck." She quickly scrambled out of the bed frantically trying to dress her self in last nights wrinkled clothes.

Draco slowly awoke. "I love seeing your face in the morning."

"No you don't. I'm not really here, you're not really here…naked, this is all a dream, no, a nightmare, and in about ten seconds I'm going to wake up." Elly started counting backwards from ten. She opened her eyes when she reached one. "You're still here. Naked."

"Elle…uhm, don't hit me, but I think you need to face the truth."

"And what's the truth?!"

"We had sex."

"I know that you fag! I can't believe you! I hate you more than I did when I first met you!"

"Don't blame this on me! You practically threw yourself at me! All I did was oblige to your wishes!"

"You took advantage of me when I was drunk! You KNEW I wasn't thinking clearly!"

Draco was about to retort when his face screwed up in horror.

"What? That's a really unattractive face on you." Elly snapped.

"I forgot to put on a condom…"

Elly went blank for a moment. Then her eyes went wide, suddenly understanding why Draco's face was like that.. Draco thought they would pop out of her head.

"YOU FORGOT A CONDOM?! WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM! Does the feel of latex against your genitals turn you off or something?!

"I was caught up in the moment! You were the one that said "forget the condom," last night anyways!"

"Last night…hmm…I can't even remember last night!"

"Because you were too busy getting smashed! You're such a hypocrite!"

"Oh you did not just call me a hypocrite! You skank!"

"The proper word would be manwhore, thanks."

"Whatever, Malfoy, I hope you fall off a cliff and die."

"Well, Elly, I hope you realize that I love you."

Elly looked at him in disgust. "No you don't. You've known me for three days! I was probably just a cheap fuck to you. Something that you needed to get to fully regime your title. Well congratulations, you get a gold star!" Elly didn't even give him a second glance before she stalked off. As soon as she rounded the corner, she broke down.

--

A certain Harry Potter was particularly enjoying himself on this fine Sunday morning. First, he found out that he would be getting a superior grade in Transfiguration, and then he learned that Remus and Tonks would be coming to visit, and finally, he'd get to see Elly. Why was it that he was so smitten with her? What was it about Elly that made him tongue tied, and giddy?

--

Elly stalked into potions with everything jumbled up inside. She was so hung over that she could barely function properly. What bugged her most is that she had lost control. Draco was so much of a fuck-up that he forgot to but on a condom! What if she got pregnant? Then what would she do? Elly knew her mother would want her to consider all her options. And she would, being the good little liberal she was. But she prayed to god that she'd get her period. God help her if she didn't…

"Miss Brightman, glad to see you on time." Snape sneered.

"No problem, Professor." Elly said void of any emotion.

"Not causing a riot either!"

Elly stared at him, trying not to get pissed off, which at the moment, it was excruciatingly hard not to.

Snape proceeded to give a lecture on something Elly didn't get a shit about. But what she did give a shit about was Draco starting at her for the whole class. As soon as the bell rang, signaling the end of class, Elly bolted out of her seat and briskly exited the classroom, trying to avoid Draco who was quickly catching up to her.

"Elly, can I please have more than one second with you!?" Draco pleaded.

"All I can say to you is that you better pray that I get my period this weekend. If not…well, put two and two together!" She turned around again, "Oh, and one other thing, take a picture of me to look at in potions! It'll last longer!"

Draco felt as though he'd been slapped. Never in his life had he been treated so rudely by a woman, and believe it or not, he liked it. Draco knew from an early age that he needed someone who could dish back what he gave them. Elly certainly did more than just dishing it back to him; she gave him a full blown feast. To Draco that was a very big attraction, pulling him in further and further into her tangled web.

--

September tenth was the day when Elly was supposed to get her period. The key word was 'supposed.' She knew if she didn't start having those cramps, then it would be time for some serious bitch slapping, and this time, Draco was her victim. She'd have no mercy. In fact, she'd rip out his baby maker so he'd never have the chance to reproduce.

Elly's mind was one-tracked all day. All she could think about was if she'd get it or not. It being her period. Draco attempted to talk to her, not that he succeeded or anything. The clock in the Charms classroom was ticking too loudly. Elly could swear she heard Seamus Finnigan farting. "Someone needs to lay of the Mexican," She thought too herself. Her paranoia was just that bad. Finally, the bell rung. Elly sprung out of her seat and ran to the nearest prefects bathroom. No, she wasn't a prefect, but she wasn't going to get raped by Moaning Myrtle. She closed the door to one of the spacious stalls with a pregnancy test in hand. She fought the tears that threatened to leak out of her eyes, as she pulled down her skirt. She could do this. So what if she wasn't ready to be a mom? She'd sue Draco for all that he was worth. Statutory rape was what the muggles called it. She looked down, ready to pee on the annoying pink stick, when something caught her eye.

--

CLIFFHANGER!!

the more you review, the sooner I update! Assuming I have readers who want me to...but you know how to tell me...BY REVIEWING!


	7. The Next Jaime Lynn Spears?

A/N: WOW, a total of like, three reviews for the last chapter! Impressive? Can we make it more?? Heads up, this chapter starts off as a recap, so before you start thinking that you're reading the same content as last chapter, YOU'RE NOT! Have a fabulous weekend!

--

Elly's mind was one-tracked all day. All she could think about was if she'd get it or not. It being her period. Draco attempted to talk to her, not that he succeeded or anything. The clock in the Charms classroom was ticking too loudly. Elly could swear she heard Seamus Finnigan farting. "Someone needs to lay of the Mexican," She thought too herself. Her paranoia was just that bad. Finally, the bell rung. Elly sprung out of her seat and ran to the nearest prefects bathroom. No, she wasn't a prefect, but she wasn't going to get raped by Moaning Myrtle. She closed the door to one of the spacious stalls with a pregnancy test in hand. She fought the tears that threatened to leak out of her eyes, as she pulled down her skirt. She could do this. So what if she wasn't ready to be a mom? She'd sue Draco for all that he was worth. Statutory rape was what the muggles called it. She looked down, ready to pee on the annoying pink stick, when something caught her eye…a speck of blood. HALLELUJAH! God answered her prayer. Blood meant that she got her period, and getting her period meant that she was not pregnant. Even though there were those freak cases where women got their period when they were pregnant…screw it. She felt those cramps coming on in waves. Elly thought she'd never find her self saying this, but for once in her life, she was happy that she was getting cramps. With a renewed joyous attitude, she skipped out of the stalls, and threw her handy box of Advil away. She deserved to suffer for being so stupid…and to Elly, having menstrual cramps full blast was the worst punishment any girl could have.

--

"You seem much more alive today." Cho mused the next morning over breakfast at the Ravenclaw table.

"Oh, yeah! Loads better, you'd think after a pregnancy scare, that I'd still be depressed, but-"

"WHAT?!" Cho shrieked as she spit out her piece of blueberry muffin.

"Did I say pregnancy scare? I meant an influenza scare!" Elly unsuccessfully tried to cover her tracks.

"No, no, no, I clearly heard you say pregnancy scare!"

"What about a pregnancy scare?" Cedric asked, eyeing Elly suspiciously.

"It's kind of embarrassing…"

"Oh no, missy! You are NOT going to weasel your way out of this!" Cho yanked Elly out of her seat and dragged her back up to the Ravenclaw common room, with a confused Cedric in tow.

"But Cho, I'm hungry!"

"Your body can survive for two weeks without food. It's not like you're eating for two or anything!"

"Ouch." Elly and Cedric said at the same time.

--

Cho pushed Elly down on the plush navy blue sofa, as her and Cedric took either side. "What did you do, Elly?"

"Almost got pregnant…?" She said innocently.

Cho pursed her lips into a tight line. "How and with who?"

"I was drunk, okay?! I wasn't thinking clearly. Ugh…my cramps are killing me, isn't that punishment enough?!"

Cedric let out a chuckle.

"SHUT UP!" Cho and Elly said at the same time.

"You were drunk!? Well that just makes the situation even worse!"

"How?! My judgment was impaired! It wasn't like I woke up one day and said, gee, I think I'll go try to get sperminated by Malfoy!" As soon as Elly said that her hand flew up over her mouth.

"MALFOY?!" Cho and Cedric bellowed.

Elly's face was a crimson red.

"Elly, come on. You can't be serious. Tell me you didn't have sex with Draco Malfoy!" Cedric's tone was serious.

"I'm an awful person!" Elly sobbed.

Cedric immediately felt bad.

"It was his fault he forgot to put on a fucking condom!"

"True as that may be, you are still responsible for your actions. I don't know what you were thinking, but I feel no sympathy for you!" Cho crossed her arms.

"Cho, do you have any idea how bad I feel about this? You have no idea what I have been through this past week! I regret every minute of that night! He took advantage of me when I was vulnerable! No, I shouldn't have gotten smashed, and yeah, I should have told him to fuck off when I saw him, but I didn't! Shit happens, that's life. And as one of my best friends, I thought you would've been a bit more understanding!" Elly yelled to defend herself and stalked out of the portrait hole.

Cho stood there mouth agape. "I guess I came on a little too strong…"

Cedric scoffed, "A little?"

--

Elly soon found herself outside on the spacious quidditch pitch, with her lacrosse stick, and ball. She cradled around the pitch and practiced shooting on a wall she found. She was so into the game, imagining the ball as Cho's face that she didn't even see someone land besides her, and accidentally whacked them with her lacrosse stick.

"Oof!" The figure in red fell off their broom and onto the hard ground.

Elly dropped her stick, "Oh, my god, I'm so sorry!" She helped the person who turned out to be Harry up.

"It's alright. That's a nice swing you got there!"

"A little too strong I think."

"What is that?" Harry asked pointing at Elly's lacrosse stick.

"It's a lacrosse stick," Elly giggled when she saw Harry's puzzled expression. "It's used in a muggle sport that I played in America. It's a really great game."

"I bet it's not as great as Quidditch!" Harry smirked.

"Quidditch can go take a long walk of a short pier."

"That wasn't very nice!"

Elly laughed, "Fancy a try then?" Elly held out her stick to Harry, mimicking his accent.

Harry winked at her and took the stick. "Now what do I do?"

"Cradle and throw as hard as you can."

Harry followed the instructions and ended up throwing the ball into one of the hoops.

"That was amazing, Harry!" Elly said in awe.

"Why thank you, dear. So what brought you out here anyway?"

"I was just cooling off," Elly grumbled. "Cho was being a bitchy hag."

Harry tried to suppress a laugh. "Cho Chang played me in fourth year. I've always thought she was a bitch."

Elly smiled at him, "I do kind of deserve it though…"

"What did you do?"

"How about I tell you when the entire ruckus dies down?"

Harry eyed her wearily. "Alright. Can I walk you back to Ravenclaw tower milady?" Harry held out his arm.

"Yes you may, good sir." Elly giggled and took his arm.

"Bye, Elly!" Harry called out from out side the portrait.

--

Elly waved back smiling and shut the portrait. She had and awesome time with Harry tonight, that made her forget all of her troubles with Malfoy, and what a bitch Cho had been earlier. But Elly knew she deserved Cho's attitude. She deserved to be tarred and feathered for what she had done. But Cho was right, why didn't she tell Draco to piss off when he found her? She was still capable of coherent thought when he'd shown up. Maybe because she actually enjoyed Draco Malfoy's company? Oh hell no. Was it amusing? Yes. But enjoyable? If hell froze over, then maybe.

"Elly! There you are! Where have you been!?" Cho shot up from the couch clutching Cedric's hand.

"I think you might want to let go of Cedric's hand, Cho…you're cutting off the circulation."

Cho quickly dropped his hand and looked down.

"Seriously though, Elly, where were you?" Cedric asked with concern.

"I was with Harry." Elly said monotonously

"Elly I'm sorry for the way I talked to you. I was just so upset about you and Draco, some things I said came out the wrong way! But you know that even if you did get pregnant, that I'd be there for you. Even if we did have a fight, I'd be there for you." Cho finished her statement.

"I'm always here for you too, Elly." Cedric and Cho embraced her in a hug.

"Thanks, loves! Glad to see you're all so forgiving!" Elly secretly rolled her eyes thinking of how cliché this was.

Cho smiled, "Repeat after me. I Elly Brightman, promise to always use a condom or some kind of contraceptive while engaging in sexual activity."

Elly repeated Cho's slightly awkward oath.


	8. Infuriation is not Infatuation

A/N: So some people actually reviewed! (Que Borat's 'very niiice') So, I give cyber hugs to those who did review! Hopefully, this story will gain a bit pf popularity, because I really enjoy writing it! Again, feel free to put your own input into reviews, it's really helpful!

--

Elly was stress free the next morning at breakfast in the Great Hall. She and Cho were happily chatting, and Elly was blissfully unaware of Draco's intense stare, and Pansy Parkinson's jealous stare. She briskly walked into the ever so dreadful History of Magic class after her breakfast, and was deeply upset that all of the seat were taken…except for one. Elly narrowed her eyes as realization dawned upon her. Of course, Draco had purposely had all the seats filled up except the one next to his. Elly had no choice but to grudgingly sit down next to him. Like she had a choice. Although, she was sorely tempted to conjour up a beanbag chair and sit next to someone to more of her liking, such as Harry, Ron, or even the quiet Hannah Abbott. But she didn't want to draw attention to herself, so she was going to suck it up and sit next to the boy who seemed determined to make her life hell.

"Nice to see your beautiful face again, Brightman." He smirked.

"Nice to see your fugly face again, Malfoy." Elly retorted.

"Zing. Oh well, I'm glad to see you're finally speaking to me again."

"Don't flatter yourself. It's not like I'm doing it willingly." Elly rolled her eyes.

"You're still talking to me, nonetheless."

"Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to a seven year old boy who hasn't hit puberty when I talk to you,"

He had a retort, when suddenly his voice got lower as Professor Binn's voice droned on, "So, uhm…about the…you know…"

"No, I don't know about the 'you know', care to enlighten me?"

"Don't make me say it, please."

"You're being silly, Draco. Beating around the bush is not an attractive quality," she said softly.

"Neither is being a sadistic bitch," he muttered.

"You're ridiculous! You actually have the nerve to call me a sadistic bitch, when you yourself are just a total- ugh! You just infuriate me!"

"Do I really?" He winked.

"Oh, just shut up!"

"Well you're not telling me whether or not you're having a kid! Mine, to be exact."

"Oh, so you were wondering about how you might have gotten me pregnant?" Elly played dumb to annoy him.

Draco sighed in defeat, "Yeah. That."

"I'm not." Elly rolled her eyes as Draco sighed with relief.

Elly grimaced in pain as a cramp shot through her. "Fuck…!" She cursed lowly.

"What? What's wrong, Elle?" Draco asked with obvious concern.

"It's called a menstrual cramp, you dipshit. I threw away my painkillers to punish myself for my stupidity."

"Having sex with me wasn't stupid!"

Elly stared at him, mouth agape. "Are you retarded? The fact that I'm still speaking to you is even more stupid!"

"Then why are you still doing it?" Draco asked with his trademark arrogant smirk.

"You know, I really don't know. Maybe because your immense thick headed attitude amuses me, even though I should be kicking your ass to a pulp for almost sperminating me. But I'd rather not waste my time or energy on someone as pathetic as you, Malfoy."

"You'd never beat me up. You love my flawless face!"

"Yeah, just as much as I love that booger dangling from your nose."

"I must say, your witty remarks are such a turn on for me."

"Remind me not to be sarcastic around you!" Elly retorted, sick of his shenanigans.

"Mr. Malfoy, Miss Brightman! I have had it with the two of you! I try and teach you an important lesson, but you two choose to behave like monkeys! I'm going to arrange a chat with your heads of houses! In the meanwhile, you two get out of my classroom!"

"My father will hear about this!" Draco roared in an up rage, and stormed out of the classroom.

"Don't mind him, professor; he's PMSing at the moment." Elly smiled at Binns.

Binns gave Elly a stern look that clearly meant "Get out of my classroom."

--

Elly dully walked back to Ravenclaw tower, when Draco "accidentally" bumped into her.

"Klutz."

"Can't help it, Elle, I'm drawn to you."

"Go play in traffic, asshole."

"I'd do anything for you." He said feigning seriousness while grabbing her hand.

Elly quickly yanked it out of his grasp, "See this line?" She drew an invisible line with her hand, "If any part of your body crosses it, I'll hunt you down with a blowtorch and castrate you!"

"Malfoy, Brightman, in my office, NOW!" Snape yelled, obviously unhappy.

Elly and Draco exchanged glances, and unwillingly followed their potions Professor. When they arrived at their destination, they found Dumbledore, Professor Flitwick, Professor Binns, and Snape in the room.

"Do you two know why you're here?" Snape grunted, giving Elly an undeserved evil eye.

--

A/N: Yay for semi-cliff hangers?? Review, and you'll make my day!


	9. Poisonous Alchemy

A/N: So, I'm finally updating. I think that's pretty legit, if you ask me. These past few weeks have been pretty busy with finals and stuff. The good news is that I just got elected to be the Opinion Editor for my school newspaper next school year! So, yeah, super excited about that. There was some fierce competition. But yeah, enough about me, and more reviews!!

--

"Malfoy, Brightman, in my office, NOW!" Snape yelled, obviously unhappy.

Elly and Draco exchanged glances, and unwillingly followed their potions Professor. When they arrived at their destination, they found Dumbledore, Professor Flitwick, Professor Binns, and Snape in the room.

"Do you two know why you're here?" Snape grunted.

"For our unnecessary banter in Professor Binns' class?" Elly and Draco said in unison. They glared at each other.

"It seems that you two have a knack for getting into unfavorable situations, am I correct?" Dumbledore looked at the two with a twinkle in his eye.

"From my observations, it is usually Miss Brightman that is the instigator…" Snape looked at Elly with a smug expression.

"What?! I am hardly the instigator! Draco here constantly provokes me while I'm trying to concentrate on my work, and he continues to be a nuisance after I've repeatedly chided him about it! Professor Snape just seems to have a completely unnecessary grudge against me!" Elly declared in defense.

"I must say that Elly here is completely insane. All I've been is be a good friend to her and introduce her to the fantastic things of Hogwarts." Draco retorted.

"Oh, don't you DARE try to play Mr. Innocent here or defend yourself, if I recall it was YOU who almost got me-" Elly cut herself off before she almost confessed about Draco almost knocking her up.

"Almost what, Miss Brightman?" Professor Dumbledore asked kindly.

Draco shot Elly a nervous glance. "I almost killed her cat."

"You almost killed her cat?" Snape asked incredulously. This was obviously not the answer he was hoping for.

"Tested lethal potions on it too!" Elly covered their tracks with ease.

"You used Miss Brightman's cat for your own gain, along with alchemy?" Snape asked, sounding slightly impressed.

"What can I say, I was feeling overly creative."

"And because of his compulsive, but potentially murderous behavior, he put my cat's life at risk! You honestly have no idea how much I love that cat. He inflicted too much emotional pain and stress upon me, causing me to flip a shit. And because of that he can never be forgiven."

"That is a strong case you have there, Miss Brightman." Professor Flitwick squeaked. "Mr. Malfoy, is there something you'd like to say?"

Draco's lips formed a goofy grin, "Words cannot explain how spectacular I feel. My heart at the moment belongs to Elly."

Elly banged her head against the convenient wall in agitation.

"That's some proclamation there, Malfoy." Snape frowned. "Do you have anything to say for yourself, Miss Brightman?"

"Professor Snape, a wise but cynical doctor once said, everybody lies! And I'm thinking that this philosophy applies perfectly to Draco. Not only does he lie, but he also takes advantage of me and rapes little girls!" Elly said with a fake smile.

"Don't listen to her, Sir. She just can't admit that I'll be the one to thaw her icy heart."

"Miss Brightman, this is not the time to commit fallacies!" Snape warned.

"It was no fallacy, Sir, just lil' ol' me being honest." Elly smiled innocently.

"Do you have any idea how tempted I am to assign you a terms worth of detention?"

"Severus, I hardly think Elly's wit should be punished." Professor Flitwick defended his house member.

"I think I have a reasonable punishment," Dumbledore said wisely, while pulling out his wand, with a flick of it, a pair of shiny handcuffs appeared, and they clasped themselves onto Draco and Elly's wrists, binding them together. In other words; Elly's worst nightmare was coming true. She was being chained to Draco Malfoy.

"Now, until you two learn to actually get along, I think that you two should spend some quality time together…"

"What about the fact that distance makes the heart grow fonder?" Elly desperate asked. She wished with all her might that she could just be non-existent for the next couple of centuries.

"That is not fact, Miss Brightman, but a wise proverb that we do not follow here at Hogwarts."

"How long to have to be chained to this thing?" Elly asked dejectedly, all hope fading away.

"FIFTY POINTS FROM RAVENCLAW FOR CALLING MR. MALFOY A THING!" Snape roared, obviously deeply unsettled.

Elly raised an eyebrow, as did Flitwick, Binns, and Dumbledore at Snape's sudden burst of passion. Even Draco looked slightly freaked out.

"You two may leave." Dumbledore said lightly.

"Don't kill each other; Hogwarts doesn't want to deal with a death liability case." Snape sneered unpleasantly.

--

Draco and Elly left the room awkwardly. Hard metal on your wrist was a really unpleasant feeling.

"Nice going, dickhead, poisoning my cat?! I don't even have a cat!" Elly snapped.

"It was either that or you were about to commit a homicide!"

"Do I look like a murderer to you?"

"Gee, I don't know, it varies. Some days you do, and other days you look like a fine piece of ass."

"Look, just how about you don't talk to me, and I don't talk to you, okay?"

"Not okay."

Elly sighed tiredly, "What do you want with me, Draco?!"

"I want you!" He said almost more passionately than lustfully, and obviously frustrated with himself. With that said, he pulled Elly into the most passionate kiss of her life, which she had to admit, made her head spin.

"What has gotten into you?" Elly inquired breathlessly.

"Fuck, I don't even know," He ran his hand through his blonde hair, "This is so wrong. I'm a Malfoy! Malfoy's don't feel! Yeah, they screw women, but they're not capable of feelings! God, Elle, ever since that night, I just can't seem to stop thinking about you. You're always on my mind…I think; no I know that I like you."

Elly stood there, not sure what to say. Sure, she'd had guys profess their undying love, but they were all crack heads who just wanted to get laid. But didn't Draco fit into that category perfectly? And if he did, then why did her heart feel like it was going to burst out of her chest?


	10. The Cheese to His Macaroni

**Author's Note:** Hey, all! Long time no see much?? My laptop recently crashed, and on it all my documents were lost. I had this story pre-written, but all those files were lost, so now I have to continue from scratch, and that's why the update took so long. Things will e out faster if I had reviews! It adds fuel to my engine! With out further ado, here is the latest chapter of Girl With The Red Ribbon.

--

"Miss Brightman, can you please answer my question?" Professor McGonagall asked slightly agitated, for Elly had not been focused the entire lesson.

"The reasons for the Americans dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were definitely just. It was either that or have the allied troops suffer some three million more causalities!"

The eyes of the sixth years in McGonagall's Transfiguration class turned to Elly. They were probably wondering when they were going to send her off to the insane asylum.

"This isn't AP American history is it…?"

"This is Transfiguration, Elly. And uh…you're in England," Ron said from her left side.

Elly flushed with embarrassment. Leave it up to her to make a fool of herself in front of her classmates. That was to be expected of her, though. But today, the pupils of Hogwarts were all over her today, because today was the first day where she was not attached to the notorious Draco Malfoy. For the past two weeks, they had been handcuffed together for 'quality bonding reasons,' according to Dumbledore. Well quality bonding her ass. It was probably Snape's idea of kinky adolescent bondage. But the real issue to Elly was how the hell she survived those two weeks. Actually, she was exaggerating. It wasn't THAT bad, according to her standards of bad. It definitely could have been worse. She could have been handcuffed to Snape, per say. At least Draco had no problems with personal hygiene. It was an overstatement to say that things were chummy between Elly hand Draco. In truth, she had never felt more awkward around him. The day that they were initially cuffed, he had kissed her. Not that him kissing her was anything new, but something about that kiss didn't sit right with her. Deep down in her subconscious she knew what it was. She had enjoyed it.

"Ten points from Ravenclaw," McGonagall said tersely. "Hopefully the deduction will teach you to pay attention more."

"Sauced," Harry smirked from Elly's right side.

Elly stifled a laugh. She was slowly beginning to Americanize Harry and Ron.

The bell soon rang, signaling the end of class. Elly got up and gathered her things. Just when she thought she was free, she heard McGonagall's stern voice calling her. Elly begrudgingly walked over to the strict woman. "Professor, I'm sorry that I haven't been paying the attention that your lessons deserve. I just have so much on my mind right now, it's hard to concentrate on anything else," Elly tried to butter her up.

"I'm sorry, Brightman, but boy problems are not an excuse to be slacking on your studies, or in the classroom."

"What makes you think it's a guy problem?" Elly nervously bit her lip. McGonagall nailed it dead on, it was a guy problem.

"Your relationship with Mr. Malfoy is quite a spectacle. There is some debate amongst the faculty that it is better than watching a soap opera!" McGonagall grinned.

Elly was officially sauced. "It is..?" She almost whimpered.

"It is indeed. But please, do keep your personal life and studies separate. I dare not say how it will affect your N.E.W.T scores. That is all," McGonagall dismissed her.

--

Elly ended up near the Slytherin dungeons and lauighed at the irony. Just then, she realized how messed up things really were. There were three things Elly was sure of. One, she absolutely despised Draco Malfoy. Two, Elly liked, not loved, Draco Malfoy, and tree, she didn't know what the hell she was going to do about it. "Well this just flat out sucks!" She groaned aloud.

"Is there anything I can do to ease the pain of it all?" Came a silky voice.

There was no need for Elly to turn around to see who it belonged too. She knew that voice all too well, along with the arrogant smirk that came with it. "Where have you been for the past couple of days?" she asked quietly.

"Let's just call it hibernation," Draco said vaguely.

"Okay, how was your 'hibernation', big bear?"

He scratched the back of his neck, "It was good, I had the opportunity to think some stuff over, you know?"

"What did you think over?"

"Something along the lines of us."

"That's a dangerous topic, Draco, sure you want to go there?" Elly raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I was thinking, and I was feeling quite philosophical and crap, about who we are."

Elly couldn't help but snicker, which earned her a glare from Draco. "Sorry, Rousseau, please continue."

"We're like a twisted version of Romeo and Juliet. We hate each other instead of our parents. We have so much potential together, but we can't make it work because we're so different. But at the same time I think that's what makes us so perfect for each other, Elle. I know you're thinking that what I'm saying is complete bullshit, but look me in the eyes when I say it's not. Don't deny that we don't have anything. It's common sense. It's as simple as 1 plus 1. In this case, one plus one equals us. You're the ying to my yang. The cheese to my macaroni."

"Did you just say I was the cheese to your macaroni?"

"I know Juno's your favorite movie, and that you think Paulie Bleaker is your soul mate."

"You know I love awkward guys, Draco."

"Well we're awkward together. You know, if somebody told me last year that I would be completely infatuated with an American, outrageous, silly, weird, smartass Ravenclaw named Elly I wouldn't have believed them. I would have said, 'go check yourself into a mental institution.' But it seems that fate had you in store for me, and for once I'm not complaining."

Elly sniffled. She couldn't believe she was actually crying over Draco's speech. It was everything she had ever wanted to hear from a guy, other than the part where they turn around and say, "oh yeah, I'm also really Orlando Bloom."

"Are you crying?" Draco walked over to her and wiped the stray tears off her face with his thumbs.

"How do I know you're not shitting me?" She asked quickly pulling away from his embrace.

"Elly, I can assure you that no guy would stay in their room for three days straight planning out what to say to a girl if they didn't mean it."

"Guys say a lot of things. Some guys will go as far as tattooing themselves to get in a girl's pants."

"Well I'm not like any other guy."

Elly wanted to believe him so badly it hurt. "So where does this leave us?" She finally said.

"I'm willing to try if you are."

Elly reached into her pocket, and handed him something. "Only if you use these."

"Condoms?"

"Oh come on, they're strawberry scented!" She said playfully.

Draco only rolled his eyes as he bent down to kiss her. He was stopped short when a stunning curse it him square in the back.

"Don't listen to him, Elly!" came the hard voice of none other than Ron Weasley.

**A/N:** I know you all love cliffhangers! Well Merry Chrismukkah to all! 


	11. I'd Waste Myself on Polish Vodka

**A/N:** **Ayyo, everyone. I could definitely tell how much everyone missed me…COUGH COUGH. Yeah, there's some heavily intended sarcasm in that. Well, enough of my complaints of close to no reviews…I hope you all like this next chapter! And a HUGE thanks to everyone who has reviews! I really take them to heart.**

--

"Weasley?" Draco sneered, half in surprise and the other half in poorly disguised disgust.

"Well, I'm obviously not McGonagall," Ron said with equal disgust.

"Hey, Ron? Do you want to put the wand down?" Elly asked, not really liking the way he was menacingly pointing it at Draco.

"No, not really," Ron responded as if Elly had asked him a casual question.

"Well are you just going to stand there and point it at me trying to look fierce? Because no offense-actually, yeah, offense intended- but you look more like a lunatic than intimidating. Unless you were trying to go for the pathetic side-kick-saving the day look. If that was the case, then you hit it right on the mark," Draco taunted.

Ron chose to ignore the comment which most people would find hurtful, and turned to Elly. "Are you really mental enough to be getting involved with Malfoy?"

Elly was offended by the comment her friend made, "Are you mental enough to be telling me who I should and shouldn't get involved with?"

"Yeah, I guess I am!"

"This is ludicrous. I'm not stupid, Ron. You're acting like I'm getting involved with a crazy axe murderer."

"Malfoy might as well be one! Bloody hell, an axe murderer would be better than him!"

"Then I'll leave you in charge of planning my funeral."

"You can't date him Elly, I won't let you!" Ron shouted, trying to sound noble.

"Ron, stop with the bull shit, why are you here?"

"If you have to ask; I'm here on Harry's behalf."

"What does Scarface have to do with any of this?" Draco chose to intervene.

"Harry doesn't have feelings for me, Ron. We're just friends," Elly denied what Ron was about to say.

"Are you sure you and Harry are on the same page, then? I'm not as daft I look. He's always talking about you, and whenever he is he gets this goofy grin on his face. It's quite annoying actually…"

"If Harry feels that way, then why doesn't he come and tell me himself?"

"Not everyone is as bold as me. Potter certainly isn't," Draco smirked.

"Yeah, not everyone is as much of a dickhole as you," Elly snickered.

"Elly, please, just, don't waste yourself on him," Ron sounded almost desperate now.

"Waste myself?! I'm not a bop, Ron."

"Bop?" Draco and Ron asked in unison, confused at what was most likely American lingo.

"Bimbo on penis," She answered for them. "And besides, if I ever did decide to waste my self on someone, or something rather, I'd do it on Polish Vodka."

"Elly, I'm only here to advise you not to get involved with him, because one, you're my friend, and I don't want to see you get hurt, two, Harry's my friend, and I don't want to see him get hurt, and three, Malfoy," he pointed an accusatory at the smirking blonde, "is scum."

"That was pretty lame, weasel bee. It's obvious that you're not skilled in the art of persuasion," Malfoy spat.

"Just know who you're dealing with. And I'm not talking about me or Harry," Ron warned and stalked off.

"He's right you know...I'm really quite the package," Elly said after Ron had vanished from their sight.

"What can I say? Feisty packages like you just attract me like a magnet to paper clips."

"Ha, aren't your metaphors just the perfect charmers."

"Only for you," He winked.

"Well since you're the smart-ass in this tangled web, I think you can guess what comes next," Elly looked at him expectantly.

Draco studied her face momentarily, and then let out a groan, "not Potter!"

"Yes, Harry. I owe him an explanation."

"I can give him the perfect explanation with my fists."

Elly rolled her eyes, "must I tell you again that violence is never the answer?"

"It solved all of your country's problems," Draco shrugged.

"That's because our diplomatic relations suck. However, my diplomatic relations with Harry are perfectly fine, and I fully intend on keeping them in tact."

"Whatever, just make sure that you take a shower when you're done with him," Draco frowned.

"Jealous, jealous, jealous," Elly smirked, and kissed him long enough so that he let out a groan.

"Can I have another?" He looked at her expectantly.

"Nope!" Elly laughed at his obvious discomfort. "Have fun with your blue balls," She laughed again and went to track down Harry.

--

Elly found Harry sitting in by the lake. He was alone, thankfully. She was relieved that Hermione or Ron were not present, for it would make her task a lot more difficult. It was an especially frosty morning. Elly wrapped her Ravenclaw scarf closer around her chilled body. She adjusted her red ribbon which had become lose earlier, and proceeded towards Harry, bracing herself for what she knew would be a tough and awkward conversation. Without saying anything, she quietly sat down next to him, casually stretching out and laying down, enjoying the fresh air the lake had to offer.

"Hello, Elly," Harry grinned.

"Hey," she responded through closed eyes.

"To what do I deserve the pleasure of your company?"

Elly opened her eyes, and studied his face. He looked so innocent. She felt a tug at her heart for what she had to tell him. Why did Harry have to like _her_?! Why couldn't he go for someone like Ginny Weasley, who could easily return the feelings without hesitation? Finally she opened her mouth, "I'm going out with Draco." There, she thought, I said it, the worst is over. She braced herself for his reaction.

"Where?" He responded, puzzled.

"What do you mean, where?"

"You said you were going out with Malfoy, where are you going with him?"

Elly mentally kicked herself. "No, Harry, I'm going out with him as in dating him. Although I guess that does entail going places with him…and I'm really open to any place, as long as it's 

not Madame Puddlefoots, that place makes me want to vomit," She rambled on, trying to make a joke out of the irony.

"Oh," was his simple reply.

Elly waited a moment for then inevitable furious lecture and reprimanding she was due to receive. "Is that it?" She asked when she heard nothing more.

"Well I'm not going to hit you, if that's what you think," Harry looked at her.

"You're not?" Elly was surprised.

"Why would I beat you up, Elly?"

"Because I'm going out with Draco Malfoy. The Joker to your Batman, the Lex Luther to your Superman, your archenemy! I thought that would clearly deserve a beating."

"I'm not going to tell you who to date. That's up to you to decide. I just have to ask…why him?"

"Oh gosh, I ask myself that same exact question just about everyday."

"And?"

"I've come up blank. I guess-I don't know, we just get each other," she struggled with her choice of words. "I really don't know how else to describe it."

"I understand, Elly. Don't give yourself a brain hemorrhage. As much as I loathe Malfoy, I know he cares about you, and I want you to be happy."

"You do?"

"No, I actually want you to be miserable and grow up to be an old cat woman," Harry said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Elly reached over and hugged him, being extremely happy that everything was okay with them. "So are we cool?" she had to ask.

"Yes, of course," he lied through his teeth. Inside, he despised the fact that the girl of his wildest dreams was going out with the person he hated most, after Voldemort. But he would never let her know that. Elly's happiness was more important than his feelings for her, and if she wanted to make merry with Malfoy, then Harry would let her do so without comment. However, if Malfoy hurt her in any way, then he would without a second thought intervene. Even if someone got hurt.

"Practically nothing is going to change, I mean we'll still be BFFs, and stuff," Elly said, still feeling guilty.

"I'd be hurt if we weren't! Just do be a favor and don't snog him in front of me, please. I happen to enjoy the food here and would not appreciate throwing it up."

"I think that can be arranged. We'll just do it in front of Cho," Elly giggled at the thought.

Harry forced a laugh, "Let's find Ron and Hermione, we can make them squirm with your detailed description of what it feels like for your tongue to be inside Malfoy's mouth."

"Ew, Harry that sounds disgusting when you put it that way!"

"That was the intended effect," he smirked.

"Oh come on, let's go make Hermione wet herself."

The two linked arms and headed to Gryffindor tower.

--

**A/N: ****I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and are looking forward to the next one! I'm certainly looking forward to Hermione & Cho's reaction. Snape's especially! The speed of the next update depends on how much love this chapter gets!**


	12. Like Father, Like Son

**A/N: Hello all, sorry for being MIA lately…I realized a couple of days ago that I missed writing this, so I've decided to hop on the wagon again! So enjoy, and remember that reviews are much appreciated!**

"WHAT IS THIS?!" Hermione Granger screeched at Breakfast. She dropped the Daily Prophet and her piece of toast simultaneously.

"It's a bit early for screaming, don't you think, Hermione?" Ron asked covering his ears.

"I definitely think that this calls for yelling," Hermione said indignantly and shoved the wizard newspaper towards Ron.

Ron's eyes scanned the front page's headline. In bold and capitalized, were the words: **YOUNGEST** **MALFOY TAKES LOVER**. He continued reading.

_Draco Malfoy, son of notorious death eater Lucius Malfoy, who is currently imprisoned in Azkaban, has been spotted with his newest 'conquest.' The said conquest is fellow sixth year Ellisabeth Brightman, who recently transferred to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from America. _

"_She's absolutely HORRIBLE for Draco. I assume she's just using him to get a higher status," said classmate Pansy Parkinson. _

_Nobody knows for sure how long the two have been together, but sources say that the two are smitten with each other._

"_They're a weird couple, but they seem happy together. I don't think I've ever seen Draco Malfoy happy other then when he's tormenting first years," said sixth year Susan Bones._

_More news on the wiz-tastic couple to come shortly._

**By Rita Skeeter, staff writer for the Daily Prophet**

"How does she find this stuff out?" Ron picked his cereal spoon up again and resumed swallowing massive spoonfuls from his bowl.

"How does she find it out before we do?!" Hermione fumed.

"I suppose Pansy went and tattled to her. She'll do anything to tarnish Elly's image."

"That makes sense…oh; these journalists are just so barbaric when it comes to publishing gossip."

At that moment, the pair heard a recognizable giggle from behind them. They turned around to find Elly and Malfoy canoodling at the entrance to the great hall, and Harry standing awkwardly behind them.

"Poor Harry, he looks so…"

"Awkward," Ron finished Hermione's sentence.

"Hey, whore! Don't you have a brothel to work?" Pansy Parkinson shouted to Elly from her seat at the Slytherin table. She snickered and then said to her friend, Millicent Bulstrode, "Look at her. She thinks she owns him now."

"Well, Pansy, every brothel in Great Britain, as well as every street corner, is already being worked by you, so it seems as though you have more work to do than I would," Elly retorted.

At that comment, Pansy marched up to Elly and slapped her across her cheek. She smirked with malice, as she watched the brunette put her hand to her stinging cheek.

"Parkinson, what the bloody hell is your fucking problem?" Draco shouted.

"She's my problem, Draco. How could you do this to me?!" She pointed her finger at Elly, "I thought you loved me…we were supposed to be together forever!"

"Pansy, when will you stop acting like a desperate pig whose only mission in life is to get Draco?" Elly glared. "It's really unattractive!"

"You know what else is unattractive? You bloody flaunting Draco like he's a trophy! You're such a bloody bitch! I LOATHE you!" She screeched in rage.

"I'm fucking tired of you insulting me, Pansy! I've done nothing to you!"

"Are you mental? You've ruined my life!" And with that, Pansy pushed Elly to the ground and attempted to strangle her.

The whole hall was watching with interest. The cat fight between the Ravenclaw and Slytherin sixth years unfolding in front of them captivated their attention. Echoes of 'fight, fight, fight' filled the air.

"Don't touch me! You'll give me herpes!" Elly gasped.

"Parkinson, get off of her!" Draco's shouts had no effect on the Slytherin who was pulling her victim's hair.

"I won't stop until I've hurt her as much as she's hurt me!"

Draco finally wrapped his arms around the thrashing girl and attempted to pull her off of Elly. He failed. He then grasped his wand and pointed it at her. "Stupefy!" A blast of red light emitted from his wand, and Pansy went limp on top of Elly.

Harry was quick to pull the unmoving Slytherin from on top of her.

"Thanks for that," Elly breathed heavily as she sat up.

"Don't mention it," Harry turned to see the whole school starting intently at Elly and Draco, and the stupefied Pansy. "Fight's over…you can go back to your previous activities."

"That horrible little witch! I'm going to strangle her when I get the chance," Elly was fuming. Before she could say or do anything else, a slew of professors came running in.

"What on earth went on here?!" Madame Pomfrey gasped, gesturing towards a limp Pansy.

"She attacked Elly," Draco said.

"Who stupefied her?" Professor McGonagall asked in a stern voice. "I can assure you that if no one comes forth, every student in this room will be assigned a months worth of detention, and it will not be a pleasant experience."

"I did it, professor," Draco said.

"This is certainly uncharacteristic of you, Mr. Malfoy."

Harry rolled his eyes at the false statement. This was just the thing that Malfoy was capable of doing. Although to a first year who refused to give up his sickles was more likely to be the victim.

"She was viciously attacking Elly, I couldn't just stand there and let Pansy take an eye out," Draco defended himself.

"I'm sure Ms. Brightman is perfectly capable of defending herself," Snape decided to intervene at that moment. "Besides, last I heard you and Brightman were ready to curse each other into oblivion."

"Well…the circumstances have changed." Draco looked at Elly. "We're…we're an item."

The professors looked at him puzzled, except for McGonagall, who looked smug, as she probably suspected her two students would get together eventually.

"And I wasn't going to let a jealous, childish girl hurt her," he said more confidently.

"While your chivalry is appreciated, Mr. Malfoy, you must _never_ use harmful spells on another student. They could have horrible consequences," McGonagall lectured.

"I wouldn't mind seeing some of those consequences on Parkinson," Ron grumbled under his breath.

"Quiet, Weasley," The head of his house said sternly. "As you know, Malfoy, your actions have consequences. Seventy five points will be deducted from Slytherin, and you will serve a month of detention with Mr. Filch. Your parents will also be notified."

At the mention of his parents, Draco went white. So this is what he got from prevented woman-slaughter. A fat old punishment. He'd have to show Elly that he really was a good Samaritan another way.

At last, the crowd in the center of the great hall diminished, and Draco and Elly left.

"I'm sorry Parkinson caused a scene," Draco said. He really was embarrassed. Honestly, he wasn't that great. Sure girls had fought over him before, but it was all childish, and he didn't think anything of it…back then, at least.

"I guess I should have been expecting it. Pansy did declare war on me, after all," Elly shrugged casually. "I'm just disappointed I didn't get to knock at least two teeth out of her. The uglier she looks, the more people tease her. The more people tease her, the more her self-esteem is lowered," she paused for breath, "and the more her self-esteem is lowered, then hopefully she'll think twice about making other people feel like shit."

"You've thought about this, haven't you?"

"I've thought about burning her with a blowtorch, if that's what you mean."

"You know, maybe you should burn Filch with a blowtorch instead, so that I could be let out of detention due to his massive third degree burns."

"Mm..nah, you deserve to suffer," she smiled playfully.

A shout rang through the hall, "Elly! Are you alright? I heard what happened in the great hall earlier…Pansy's absolutely dreadful," Cho Chang bustled over to where Elly and Draco were standing, Cedric at her side.

"I'm still in one piece, aren't I?"

"Yes, well…those Slytherin's can be ruthless…she could've really hurt you."

Draco caughed.

Cho and Cedric glared.

"They really are like snakes…you can never be sure when they'll bind you," Cho looked at Draco when she said that.

"Enough, Chang," Draco snapped. "Look, I know your opinion of me probably is not the greatest, but I happen to genuinely like Elly. Yeah, I know, it's extremely out of character for me, and I'm kind of in surprise myself, but I really can't help it. Now if you want to stop being such a damn bloody prude with and looking like you smell something rancid, just shut up. I don't say that crap about Diggory," he proclaimed.

Cho narrowed her eyes at him, "Listen Malfoy, I don't trust you, and I certainly do not like you. But I do like Elly, so I'll just pretend like you don't exist…for now."

"Fine by me. That's how I've been treating you all these years anyways. I mean, your quidditch team is practically non-existent in terms of winning, so this should not be hard at all."

"Whatever, asshole. I'll see you in the common room, Elly," she grabbed Cedric's hand and marched off.

"Why can't everyone just accept this!?" Elly groaned in frustration.

"Because we're different, I suppose. They can't seem to wrap their thick heads around the fact that I have a heart," Draco said.

"Even if your parents don't…"

Draco snapped his head up, "what did you say?"

"I said, you have a heart, even if your parents don't."

"You don't know my parents…you have no right to say that," he said coldly.

"So what? I may not know them, but I definitely know their public image. Draco, your father is sitting in Azkaban right now for killing and torturing innocent people…and he deserves it," Elly said with equal coldness. "And your mother just sat back and watched…which is the worst thing a person can do." She struck a chord, she realized, and for the second time that day, Elly was slapped. The second slap was not one that was expected. Therefore, she clutched her cheek in shock, feeling where his ring had made an indent.

Draco stepped back, in awe of what he had just done. He had done what his father had done to his mother numerous times. He had promised himself he would never be like that. Ever. The phrase, 'father like son' ran through his mind. "I…I," he tried to begin.

Elly gave him the coldest look he had ever seen, and her face was void of all emotion, "I have nothing to say to you, except that you're as bad as he is."


	13. Bruised

**A/N: Hello! How are you all? I'm just dandy, thanks. I hope you all enjoy this and give me reviews! Much love, J.**

The sky over Hogwarts castle was a dull gray, and it was raining heavily. For some reason, this placated Elly somewhat. The dismal weather matched her dismal mood. True, it was out of line for her to insult Draco's parents when she only knew them by their public image. After all, her mother had always told her to never judge a person by their reputation-unless they wore Prada pumps rather than Jimmy Choo stilettos. However, that was in the fashion world, and in the real world shoe designers did not matter. For all she knew, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy could be the happiest couple in the world, and while Lucius may be a notorious servant under Voldemort, she did not know how he really felt about his situation. However, his son's violent reaction was certainly uncalled for. The number one rule for chivalry was that a man must never hit or abuse a woman, unless they lived in some polygamist cult, but even then abuse was still wrong. Elly had recently been able to obtain some muggle celebrity gossip and was outraged to hear that the popular singer Chris Brown had allegedly beat up his equally popular singer girlfriend Rihanna. Maybe it angered her so much because Rihanna's situation was somewhat similar to her own. She could not imagine Rihanna taking Chris back, just as she could not imagine herself taking Draco Malfoy back. Yes, she concluded in her mind, once a wife beater, always a wife beater.

"Cho, do you have any of that really nifty magical foundation that you let me use a while ago?" Elly asked, since it covered up the bruise that Draco left when he slapped her quite nicely. So far, no one had interrogated Elly too harshly on how and where she got the nice purple bruise on her cheek. Cedric suspected that Draco had something to do with it, but respected Elly too much to do anything. The Hufflepuff was too peaceful to start a riot.

"Sorry Elly, I think I'm out. I'll go to Hogsmeade next visit and pick up some more," Cho replied.

Rats. Elly would have to face the annoying stares of her classmates as she flashed the ugly bruise. Fuck her life, she groaned inwardly. Elly had already stalled as long as she possibly could and headed to potions, where she would ultimately have to face her new sworn enemy, Draco Malfoy.

* * *

"Large ugly bruises suit you well, Brightman," Pansy Parkinson sniggered as Elly entered the dungeon classroom.

"Don't you have a corridor to work or something?" Elly shot back as she took her seat.

Pansy huffed and went back to whispering with her friend Millicent Bulstrode.

Not too long after, Draco sat down. He seemed very awkward and did not seem to know how to proceed. He seemed even more squeamish when he caught sight of Elly's nice big bruise that he had given her. Shit, he sighed mentally. "I know a spell that can get ride of that in an instant."

Elly did not even turn to face him. "There's no need for that, Malfoy. I want the world to see how cruel and evil you really are."

That answered his question. This would definitely not be an easy battle for him to win. Honestly, he deserved to be burned with a blow torch, forced to cut out his own entrails (they did that in ancient Japan), all the while reliving his worst nightmare. He didn't even have a legitimate excuse for hitting Elly. The worst part was that what she said about his parents was true. His father was rotting away in Azkaban as he should be, and his mother should be too. The saying, 'if you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem' held true to him. Soon after he made the blow, Draco quickly came to the conclusion that there was no plausible reason for him slapping Elly, and that he was a foul prick for doing so. His father beat his mother often. She suffered silently, but he always knew. Draco loathed his father for that and would never forgive him. However, he would try with all his might to get back into Elly's good graces. Anything that made him different from his father was good.

"Look," he breathed deeply and said in a quiet voice, "I just want you to know, that there was absolutely no excuse for me hitting you, and I will regret it for the rest of my life. What you said about my parents is true, and I deserve the same fate as them. I'm not good for you."

Elly did not acknowledge him. Her face was still focused on Snape's lecture about unicorn blood. The bruise on the right side of her cheek taunted him, and reminded him how ruthless he could be and how bad he was for her.

* * *

When class ended Elly collected her books and was quick to join Harry, Ron, and Hermione who were also in the class.

Draco was crushed to see her leave, but at the same time was fully expecting no communication with her. He was like a monster, and who would want to talk and interact with one? Not Elly, of course.

The rest of the day went by in a blur for Elly. She had heard Draco's alibi, and chose to ignore him. Every time she caught a glimpse of her reflection and she saw the bruise he had given her staring her in the face, she was reminded of the pain and hurt that came with it. A part of her thought that she was being way too melodramatic about the whole thing. The other part of her said that she was in her right to be furious with the blonde. After all, the abuse was a serious matter. The infamous slap was not only a physical blow, but it was a confidence blow as well. For the first time, Elly felt afraid, and she did not like it one bit.

* * *

Harry, Ron, and Hermione noticed Elly's unusual distance. When they separated, they were free to talk about it.

"Alright, the question is who gave her that bruise and how and why did she get it," Ron said.

"Malfoy is a definitely possibility," Hermione contemplated, "but I don't understand why he would do it…I thought everything was good between them."

"Duh, Hermione, he's Malfoy. Did you expect him to suddenly change from the arrogant bastard to a prince charming?" Harry asked.

"No, I expected him to treat Elly with care and most of all, respect," Hermione said.

"Well he's obviously incapable of that, or else he wouldn't have done it," Ron said.

"Maybe there's something we're missing…it might not have even been purposeful," Hermione tried to find reason in the grim situation.

"There's only one way to find out," Harry answered.

"And that is?"

"A confrontation," Harry and Ron answered in unison.

* * *

Draco was sitting in the Slytherin common room mulling over the day's events. His train of thought was interrupted when his owl flew in and dropped a single envelope in his lap. Curious, he opened it and found a letter. In neat handwriting it read:

_You don't deserve to spend your life in Azkaban._


	14. The Torch That Still Burns

A/N: Hi all! I'm really sorry for the long and unnecessary hiatus. I've just been extremely busy. This chapter goes out to J'aime le solei, because she really motivated me to start writing again. Thank you! Enjoy!

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For as long as she could remember, Elly had always been the one to feel guilty very easily. For example, when she had thrown a tantrum at her father, circa age eight, in return he had listed all the things that he had done for her, such as attending every piano recital, feeding her, clothing her, and sheltering her. And most of all, no matter how much Elly blew up at him, that he would always love her. That little spiel that her father made always knocked her down with a burden of guilt. Therefore, it was safe to say that Elly had a problem with it. And because of that problem and weakness with guilt, Elly had done it.

She had broken her vow to herself. Instead of terminating all means of communication with the blond bastard, she had sent him that stupid letter saying that he didn't deserve to be imprisoned in Azkaban. Why had she done it? Guilt, of course, was a cause, but the rest of her mind was blank. Well, actually, there was an abundance of thoughts racing through it. Some were trivial, like wondering how soon she could get access to the Food Network inside the walls of this damn castle. However, the main thoughts that clouded her mind were the ones of Malfoy. She wanted to kick herself repeatedly in the stomach, because, despite what he had done and regardless of the now fading bruise on her right cheek, she still held a torch for him. As Elly contemplated this realization, all she could think of was how odd this situation was. One thing was for sure, she needed her Food Network back.

* * *

Right now, Draco Malfoy was a very confused Slytherin. Half of him was extremely relieved that Elly had sent him that letter. Although it was sparse, to him, it meant that he still had a chance to get back in her good graces. However, it would definitely not be easy. No, it would be like climbing Mount Everest in swimming trunks and flip flops. However, if there was one quality that Draco did not lack in, it was ambition. And for however long it took, his ambition was to get Elly back. He ran a hand through his messy blond locks and took a deep breath. It was going to be a long climb.

* * *

"So, one thing is obvious. It has to do with Malfoy," Ron paced around the Gryffindor common room.

"As much as I would love to immediately jump to that conclusion, Ron, we don't know that. Maybe she got hit with a quaffle or something," Hermione tried to be logical.

Harry let out an exasperated sigh, "Hermione, if Elly had gotten hit with a quaffle, she would have no teeth.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Look, all I'm saying is that he didn't necessarily hit her. Has anyone thought to actually talk to her directly about what happened?"

"Oh, yes. Because our conversation would definitely get us somewhere. 'Hello, Elly. Where did you get that enormous bruise from?'" Ron mocked a conversation.

"Fine, it probably does have something to do with Malfoy. I just didn't want to be hasty. What are proposing that we do about him? You know a confrontation won't do us any good," Hermione conceded.

"Hermione, Harry's the 'Chosen One,' he can do something cool that will make Malfoy wish he could move to Siberia!" Ron exclaimed.

"I'm glad you think so highly of my title," Harry muttered. "Look, Malfoy will get what's coming to him, don't you worry."

* * *

Elly knew she had to do it. It was now or never, and if she didn't have the balls to confront Malfoy, she would have to spend the rest of the term avoiding him. She would have been content watching him suffer, but the tiniest, most minuscule part of her would be suffering, too.

"Pureblood," She spoke the password to get into the Slytherin dormitories, and rolled her eyes at what the password was. She was granted access. Elly was nervous about entering the garden of snakes. She was speaking metaphorically, of course.

As soon as her head appeared in the common room, a shriek echoed.

"BRIGHTMAN! What are you doing in MY territory?!" A livid Pansy Parkinson shouted, jumping up from the sofa and dropping the _Witch Weekly_ she had been flipping though.

"I'm sorry; I didn't realize that this was your kingdom. If it were, I'd pick a nicer couch for your throne. Black leather gets quite hot in the summertime," Elly sneered.

"Are you here to see you little Draco? If you are, you should know that you'll never be half the woman that he needs."

"And I suppose you think you are? I mean, I'd take him for a man-whore, but even he has standards."

"Why you little brat! I'm going to CLAW YOUR EYES OUT!" Pansy screamed.

Draco heard Pansy's tantrum and promptly entered the common room. His breath caught in his throat when he saw Elly. What was she doing here? Maybe, just maybe, he thought, that he would only have to climb to the second to last summit of Everest instead of the very top.

Elly ignored Pansy's threat and turned her attention to Draco who had, at that moment, decided to appear in the common room. "Uhm, hi," she said awkwardly.

"Hello," He responded evenly.

"Draco, why are you just standing there!? Aren't you going to hex her into oblivion for what she did to you?!" Pansy's shrieks were definitely going to force the people currently in the Slytherin common room into investing in a hearing aid.

Draco ignored her, "what are you doing here?" He asked in a softer tone.

Elly cleared her throat, "I couldn't ignore you any longer. I have some things that I need to say to you. And I was hoping I could say them in private, and not in the presence of a banshee," she said looking over at a still fuming Pansy.

"That can be arranged. Follow me," he said leading her down a corridor. "I think my room is the only safe haven right now."

* * *

As Elly stepped into his lair, she immediately took notice of how Draco like the room was. The walls were silver and jade, and in the middle of the room was a large bed with a green comforter. It was all very Slytherin. "So, uh, I guess I should start by saying that I don't hate you."

"I'm so glad to hear that, Elle. And I meant what I said in potions the other day, I never ever should have laid a hand on you that way, and—"

Elly put up a hand to stop him. "Let me say my piece."

He nodded.

"You hit me, Draco. That's not something to be taken lightly. I know it was spastic and that you said you didn't mean to do it, but the fact is, you did it and it can't be undone. I would like to tell myself that this was completely out of character for you and not in your nature, but the truth is, I don't really know if it's in your nature or not because I don't know you at all. We had sex, which I would consider an intimate act between two people, but I was not exactly sober. However, that kinda created a bond between us, I think. And I'll admit, I said some things about your family that I probably should not have said, but like I said before, I said them, and I can't take them back," She paused for breath. "And I send you that owl because even though you did something horrible, I still like you and think you're really sexy, and I'm not ready to castrate you. Not yet, at least," she said really fast.

Draco slowly walked up to her until his face was inches away from hers. He gently cupped her still bruised cheek and planted a soft kiss there. "I Promise that I will never hurt you again."

Elly forgot to breathe for a moment. "Do you have to do that all the time?"

"Do what?"

"Always be so suave and seductive like that. You make me loose a couple of brain cells every time, which is becoming quite frequent."

"Well, I'm sorry I have that effect on you," He smirked and finally, pressed his lips to hers. For Draco, it felt like he was tasting chocolate cake after being on a rigorous diet for weeks.

However, at that moment, Pansy decided to barge into the room and point her wand menacingly at Elly. "YOU WILL PAY FOR TAKING DRACO AWAY FROM ME!"

Before Pansy could utter a spell, Elly whipped out her wand and yelled, "Stupefy!"

Pansy hit the ground with a thud.

"Shit," Elly cursed. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. I did not just stun her…I can't believe I just did that, oh, shit I'm going to get expelled!"

"Hey, hey, relax. It was self defense. I'll be your witness," Draco tried to comfort her.

At that precise moment, Snape burst into the bedroom after hearing the commotion. "Brightman?! What did you do?" He barked.

"It was all self defense, I swear," Draco defended her.

"Quiet, Malfoy. Brightman, did you or did you not stun Miss Parkinson?"

What use was it to lie? Elly thought dejectedly. "Yes. I did."

"Miss Brightman, you have intentionally harmed a student. I have no choice but to expel you from Hogwarts," Snape declared.


	15. When Hell is Better Than Home

**A/N: Hello! I worked hard on this chapter. I'm hoping that it will be a good transition for the next chapter, which I'm really excited for. Special thanks to oomercy, thanks for the encouraging message! Enjoy and don't forget to review! Every single one counts.**

* * *

"Expelled?" Elly repeated Snape's words with disbelief etched in her voice. Of course, the disbelief should not have been present, due to the fact that the second she stunned Pansy, she knew that her expulsion from Hogwarts would be inevitable. However, she was still hoping with all her might for a milder punishment, like spending the remainder of the year in detention with Filch.

"Do not make me repeat myself, Brightman. The only reasonable punishment for intentionally harming another student is expulsion," Snape said. Elly noticed that he looked rather smug. Stupid, greasy-haired, good for nothing professor.

"But professor, it was in self defense. Parkinson is crazy about me, every body knows that. And of course she just jumped at the chance to harm Elly. You just happened to walk in at the wrong moment," Draco tried to defend Elly, however, his attempts proved to be useless.

"Hush, Malfoy, before I notify your family of your involvement in this."

"Would anyone care for some lemon drops? They are fresh from Honeydukes," Dumbledore's random appearance was unexpected.

"Oh, yes, please!" Lemon drops would take away the misery of expulsion for a few moments, Elly thought.

"Professor Dumbledore, I was hoping that you could change Professor Snape's decision about expelling Elly," Draco said.

"Actually, Draco, being the headmaster, I do believe it is my duty to expel students. Severus is only obliged to make suggestions. He does not have the power to expel."

"In that case, before you do expel me, can I say my case?" Elly asked with renewed hope, momentarily forgetting about her beloved lemon drops.

"By all means, Ms. Brightman."

"Professor, let me tell you why expelling me from Hogwarts would be suicidal. First of all, my father would murder me. I'm not even being sarcastic here. He'd like, take our biggest butcher knife and, like, stab me with it multiple times. It would hurt so bad," she cringed for effect. Secondly, my mom would be thrilled, mainly because she'd get to drag me shopping. This would be really bad because she does so much high end shopping, that we'd end up going bankrupt and living in a card board box in the middle of Diagon Alley, which would suck. And thirdly, I'd be getting no education, only one I fashion, which has no value in the real world, and it would end up forcing me to spend my time watching the food network, travel channel, and various other muggle televison programs that would turn my brain to mush, not that I would mind. And also, I'd turn into a hermit because I have no friends other than the ones here. I'd be forced to make friends with the servants in my house, but I'm afraid there's a language barrier between us, so I'd end up driving myself crazy!" Elly pleaded with Dumbledore. "Oh! And I only stunned Pansy because she declared war on me and was going to hurt me, and I was never going to let someone like _her_ take me down, so it was all in self defense, honestly" she took a deep breath, "I rest my case, professor."

Draco smirked. Elly was a genius.

"Have you ever considered a career in magical law, Miss Brightman?" Dumbledore asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"Well, I must admit, it has always been my dream to serve justice to those who are wrongly accused," she glared at Snape as she said this.

"Just because the girl defends herself, Albus, does not pardon her for what she did," Snape played Devil's advocate.

"You are right that her deeds should not slip by without punishment, but I do not believe that expulsion is the only fit punishment. Miss Brightman, you will be suspended from Hogwarts for two weeks. When you come back, you will serve a month's worth of detention with Professor Flitwick," Dumbledore said.

Elly and Draco simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.

"Professor Dumbledore, I love you," Elly couldn't help but run over and give the elderly wizard a hug.

"I appreciate your gratitude, Miss Brightman. You should begin packing your belongings for you leave tonight. An owl will notify your parents of the reasons for your homecoming. I will see you back here in two weeks," He left the room.

Snape was livid. "Consider yourself lucky, Brightman. If I were headmaster, I would make sure you were never to be allowed to step foot in another wizarding school again!"

"Good thing you're not headmaster then," Draco mumbled under his breath so that only Elly could hear.

After Snape walked, or more like stomped out the room, Elly scowled. "Why can't that man just get some shampoo and get over himself and his hatred for me?! Holding severe grudges will get him no where in life."

"He really wants you gone from this school," Draco mused. "Maybe your father made his life miserable."

If that was true, Snape was completely immature. Elly's father, Edward, had gone to Hogwarts around the same time Snape had, so it made sense that they might've known each other. Elly's father came from a prominent pureblood family. He was a Slytherin back in the day, but Elly wouldn't label him as ruthless or cruel and prejudice. He was a Slytherin because he had so much ambition running through his veins. Elly's father had climbed to the top of wizarding stock brokers. And sometimes his way of getting the money was not so clean. Yes, Elly was sure that he had done a fair share of dealings through the black market. She thought it was quite sketchy, if you asked her. Her mother, Clarissa, on the other hand, was clueless about Edward's not-so-good deeds. .As long as she had her Chanel and Gucci, she was content. Being a muggle, she was not interested in anything magic related.

"I suppose I better pack. Although, I think I'll just leave my suitcase empty since I know I'll be back with at least five more suitcases full of clothes courtesy of mother dearest."

Draco looked awkward for a moment. "So, am I forgiven?"

"I'll never forgive what you did, Draco, but I'm willing to move on from it."

"As long as I'm back in your good graces…I guess I can live with it," he planted a kiss on her lips. "And did I hear you say that you think I'm sexy?"

"Uh, no. I think you need to get a hearing aid."

Draco wrapped his arms around the girl in front of him. He gently retied the red ribbon that had come undone. "I'll miss you," he sounded sincere.

"No you won't. Cherish the break," Elly stood up on her tippy toes to kiss him again.

Draco closed his eyes to soak up the sweet moment. When he opened them, she was gone.

"I'll see you in two weeks!" Elly's voice echoed.

* * *

"Home, sweet home," Elly grumbled as she trudged up the stairs that led to the front porch of her house. If the owl informed her parents of her return, as Dumbledore said it would, her parents would be furious. She would probably be exiled to her room, which wouldn't be so bad. But two weeks of isolation would be brutal. Her father would probably only let her out to go shopping with her mother, which would only increase the frustration of being home again. For Elly, home certainly was not where her heart was.

"Darling! I'm so happy you're home!"

Elly was greeted by her mother, although her face was disguised with botox, it was still her mother's face. "Uh, yeah, I kind of got into some trouble at school."

"Well that's what that letter said, but that's rubbish. Everybody has a little rebel inside of them. Yours just happened to go a little crazy!" She poked Elly in the stomach.

Elly checked her watch. It was only two in the afternoon…could her mother be drunk as a skunk already? Yes, it was likely. "Is dad home?"

"He's at the office, but he should be home around dinnertime. Oh, he'll be so surprised to see that you're home!"

"What?! You haven't told dad that I got suspended?! He'll burn me alive at the stake!" Elly was scared shitless.

"Well, I thought you could tell him. It would make for a good bonding experience."

"You think that dad burning me alive makes for a good bonding experience? What are you smoking, mom?"

"Oh just some natural herbal infusions…" her mother said airily.

That was the moment when Elly knew that this could not be her real mother. "I'm going to go unpack, and then find a good hiding spot, you know, try to save myself while I still can."

"Okay, honey, you do that. I'll be in the sitting room, sitting!"

Elly groaned inwardly. It was going to be a long two weeks. "Time to go find a lake to go drown myself in."


	16. Busted

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A/N: Hey all! Sorry this was late, but field hockey tryouts just started and it's really stressful this year, considering 20 girls are going to have to be cut…so cross your fingers that I make the team again! Enjoy this chapter, I worked hard on it, and don't forget to leave a review!!

* * *

"Where the bloody hell did she go?" Ron asked perplexed as he sat with Harry and Hermione in potions and had noticed Elly missing for the last couple of days.

"I don't know, but I'm starting to get worried…"Hermione trailed off.

"No need to worry, Granger, I didn't eat her," Draco smirked overhearing their conversation.

"Only because that's humanly impossible," Hermione retorted. "And if it was, I'm sure you would have eaten her."

"After beating her up some more," Harry muttered under his breath.

A look of shame came over Draco's features, but it went away so quickly, Harry began to wonder if he had imagined it.

"I bet you know where she is, Ferret," Ron glared at Draco.

"Wow, Weasel, you're getting smarter. Yeah, I know exactly where she is."

"Locked up in your dungeons begging for mercy?" Harry narrowed his eyes. Draco was succeeding in pushing his buttons.

"Eh, begging for sex is more like it," the smirk on Draco's face grew as he watched the trio blush.

"Don't taunt her friends, Malfoy," Snape decided to walk over to the quartet. "If you must know, Brightman has been suspended from Hogwarts for two weeks and is currently at her home residence."

"Suspended? For what!?" Hermione gasped.

"She stunned Parkinson," Draco rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure Miss Brightman is capable of a lot more, too. If it were up to me I would have expelled her. I sincerely hope you four do not follow her poor examples," Snape glared at the golden trio and went back to his desk.

"Why'd she stun Pansy?" Ron asked, somewhat clueless.

"Why else would she? Pansy tried to claw her eyes out. It was merely self defense," Draco explained. Realization suddenly dawned upon him, "Why the hell am I talking to a scarface, weasel, and a mudblood?" He stalked off, shaking his head. Shortly after, the bell rang.

* * *

"Mother, please, no more shopping!" Elly whined as she trudged behind her mother, arms laden with heavy shopping bags.

"Why not, honey bunny? Shopping is so great! Don't you just adore the things you got at Channel and Dior?"

Elly cringed as she remembered the grueling hours spent in numerous dressing rooms. She actually didn't even recall every physically trying anything on. It was more like her just standing there while her mother yanked various items of designer clothing over her body. It was quite painful. Surprisingly though, Elly used to be fond of shopping before her mother became a compulsive addict.

"I don't understand why you don't have fun with me. During our facials and mani-pedis last night, you looked like you wanted to jump out of the window," her mother frowned.

Elly did want to jump out of the spa window, but she refrained from saying the truth. "I just really miss my friends from school." That part was somewhat truthful.

"Aw, baby!" Her mother dropped her bags and embraced her. "This is why I wish your father and I had given you a brother or sister. You know, we would have, but I just couldn't bring myself to, you know, with him after he gained all that weight."

The image of her parents having intercourse burned Elly's mind. "I'm down with being an only child, mom, you don't have to feel any remorse."

Clarissa sighed with relief. Her eyes brightened again, "Is it a boy that you're missing, perhaps?"

"What? No." Elly blushed.

"You're lying, honey bunny! I know that blush anywhere. You have a boyfriend! What's his name? Do I know him?"

"Mom, chill, please. I do not have a boyfriend," Elly chose not to tell her mother about Draco. He would have to stay in the dark, for now.

Clarissa seemed to accept that, and they apparated back home.

* * *

Elly immediately ran up to the sanctuary that was her room. She was still hiding out there since her father had to extend his business trip and she did not know when to expect him home. She was grateful for the extra days she had to live. It was late, so she changed into her pajamas, climbed into bed, and turned on the television. Elly was elated to find that reruns of the O.C were playing on SOAPNET. She would gladly immerse herself in the unnecessarily dramatic lives of the characters. She was half asleep when she heard a pop. Her eyes widened. Draco Malfoy was in her room. With her. Alone. What a compromising position, she thought. Thankfully, both of them were fully clothed.

"Surprised?" Draco smirked.

"Uhm, yes! This was really unexpected…"

"I thought my presence would drag you out of your misery."

"Who said I was miserable? I have the O.C and the Food Network back, and it's Shark Week. I'm in heaven!"

Draco looked at the messy disarray of shopping bags. "I take it you've been shopping?"

"How did you guess?" She said sarcastically.

The silence was thick with tension, seeing as the two were in the midst of resolving some issues before Elly had gotten suspended. However, Elly had to admit that some of the tension was sexual…but only some! It was not her fault that she suddenly had the overwhelming urge to kiss him passionately as Marissa had just done to Ryan on the television screen. Draco must have read her mind, because he swiftly climbed onto her bed and pulled Elly's face to his. The duo was soon involved in a heavy make-out session.

"I missed this," Draco murmured against her lips.

"You mean you missed my intellectual, witty, and sarcastic, not to mention highly attractive self."

"And your lovely lips," Draco broke the kiss to gently run his fingers over her lips. "They're like miniature pillows. I could kiss them all day, everyday."

"You're quite the poet, Mr. Malfoy," Elly giggled.

Their kisses became heated again, and Draco found himself getting hot. He quickly threw his shirt off. Elly stifled a gasp at the sight of his perfectly sculpted abs. Sure they had engaged in sex before, but Elly was drunk, and therefore did not take notice of Draco's splendid physique. In reality, he resembled a Greek God. The two were so caught up in the moment of sweet reunion, that neither of them heard the door open.

"ELLISABETH CHARLOTTE BRIGHTMAN! WHAT IN MERLIN'S BEARD DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" A booming voice echoed through Elly's room.

Oh, fuck, she thought to herself. "Dad! What are you doing in here?! Haven't you ever heard of knocking!?" She exclaimed in surprise

"What am I doing here?! This is my home, I don't have to knock! What is that boy doing in YOUR bed half naked?" He roared.

"T-this is m- my-"

"Hello, sir. I am Elly's boyfriend, Draco Malfoy."

"I don't care if you're Lucius' boy, put your clothes on, then you may speak to me...or rather, grovel at my feet for touching my daughter inappropriately."

Draco quickly put on his shirt that he had discarded on the floor moments earlier. He was suddenly more intimidated than he had been in his entire life.

Just when Elly thought the embarrassment could not get any worse, her mother, having heard her father's yelling, entered the room.

Her mother let out an audible gasp, "Oh, Elly! He's gorgeous, where did you find him?"

"Clarissa! You do realize your daughter was basically about to have sex with this boy right under our noses! Don't you?!" Elly's father was still furious.

"Yes, but…he's so…hypnotizing," Clarissa had a weird gleam in her eyes that made Elly and Draco cringe away.

Elly took a deep breath, "Mom, Dad, I'm just going to throw this out there and hope you don't kick me out," her parents looked at her expectantly. "I'm not a virgin." She looked at her parents and began to worry about her father, who was turning purpler by the second.

Clarissa breathed a sigh of relief, "oh that's wonderful, darling. Now you can officially call yourself a woman."

Elly and her father were both tempted to strangle the petite woman. Elly looked to her father and with her eyes, pleaded, 'divorce her, you moron!'

"YOU DEFLOWERED MY DAUGHTER?! I'M GOING TO CRUCIO YOUR ASS RIGHT NOW!" he was outraged.

"Dad, don't! It's not like he busted the black market or anything."

"Oh don't you say anything, young lady. You are officially going to muggle military school for the remainder of your existence," her father threatened.

"Okay, so I had sex, made out with my boyfriend in my room, mind you I was not having sex or doing drugs, and you just happened to walk in on me. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not. I'm a teenage girl and I have needs!"

"No you don't!"

"Don't tell me you and mom don't fuck like bunnies when I'm not present."

Her parents blushed bright red. "Elly, I need to talk to you about your situation in my office," he glared at Draco, "alone."

Elly groaned and waited for her life to flash before her eyes.


	17. Elly's Mom Has Standards: Shocking!

**A/N: Hello, everyone! I'm being extremely nice and releasing another chapter. I hope you all love it  and PLEASE review, I don't think you guys understand how happy it makes me to get them. Enjoy!**

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Most of the time, fear is like itself; irrational. That is what Elly kept trying to tell herself as she stood in front of her father, who was pacing back and forth in his office. The only source of comfort that she felt was the warmth from the roaring fire. Scratch that, Elly thought. Her father was probably going to throw her into said fireplace, and watch her burn with joy and amusement. He would feel no remorse. In fact, he would not even come to her funeral…but then again, why would he come to her funeral if he was the one who had murdered her? Elly's father was not stupid; he would blame it on someone else. Draco perhaps? Oh, yes, that would be the perfect revenge. She would be burned alive and Draco would rot away in Azkaban. Lovely.

"I have to say, Ellisabeth, that I am deeply, deeply, truly disappointed in you. First you get suspended, and now I find you about to do the deed with the son of a death eater? What the bloody hell has gotten into you?" His voice was surprisingly calm.

"Do you even know why I got suspended, dad?"

"Severus Snape's letter was not shy of details. You stunned a student. That is not something that goes unpunished. I thought you were smarter than that, daughter. Have I not raised you to use your brain?"

"Snape is a creeper who has a personal vendetta against me for no reason whatsoever. Pansy Parkinson is an ugly cow who has tried to kill me numerous times, all the while, trying to steal my boyfriend! You can hardly blame me for stunning her. And for the billionth time, it was SELF DEFENSE!" Elly yelled, exasperated.

Elly's father's expression sobered, "did you say Snape has a vendetta against you?"

"Yes, a majorly huge one, too. The first day of potions he told me that he knew things about me that would make my hair curl, which is impossible since my hair is way too straight."

"Ellisabeth, you listen to me now. Never, and I mean NEVER let Severus Snape near you."

"Well, gee, I would love to actually obey you for once, but I kind of have to be near him since he's my teacher and all. I mean, I could try to teach myself potions, but I do not even want to think of the catastrophes that will likely occur."

"Will you cut it with the sarcasm for one minute?! This is serious! Look, I've known Snape for a while...back when Voldemort was still in power. He...well, let's just say that he has some dirt on this family. Me in particular, and I do not want it getting out to the public," Elly's father seemed embarrassed.

"Well, I guess it's nice to know that it's really you he hates and not me."

"He hates me because I married your mother."

Elly suddenly had to fight the strong urge to vomit. "Snape loves mom?" she chocked out.

"He was obsessed with her…but she would not give him a second glance."

"I'm glad to know that mom has at least SOME standards."

"Yes, Severus always seemed to be the least desirable of the men at Hogwarts…" Elly's father trailed off as he reminisced. His eyes shot back to Elly. "Don't try to change the subject, we need to discuss Malfoy. Is he still here, or did I scare him off?"

Elly knew she could not dig herself out of this hole. "Uh…I'll go see." Elly walked back into her room. "Draco, are you still here?"

"I'm so happy to see that you're still alive," Draco said. "Although, I did find it hard to believe that your father would actually kill you."

"Well, he's not done with me yet. He would like to speak to you."

Draco went pale as a ghost. "Elle, if he threatens to kill you, he'll definitely slaughter and gutter me like a cow, and then transfigure me into a steak and bloody eat me!"

"Eh, he may be merciful and just use the killing curse on you…it'll be quick and painless, not to mention there won't be a mess to clean up."

Draco looked like he sincerely believed her.

"Oh, lighten up! He won't kill you," she gave him a light shove that pushed him into her father's study.

Elly's father eyed him up and down, not once, but three times. Draco felt like he was in a prison line up, waiting to be identified as the criminal.

"So, your name is Dracula, is it?"

"It's Draco, sir."

"Whatever, close enough," Elly's father brushed it off.

Elly snickered to herself at his allusion to the real Dracula. She knew he did it on purpose.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen, almost seventeen, sir."

"How did you and Ellisabeth meet?"

"We met at school. From the moment I first laid eyes on her, I knew she was the one for me."

Elly smacked her forehead. Her father would not tolerate the mushy crap that Draco just said.

Her father's eye's narrowed significantly, "You claim to love my daughter, yet you're only sixteen. How can you be so sure that you're ready to settle down? Especially with someone as high-maintenance as my daughter?"

Elly scoffed. She wasn't that hard to deal with. Why did her father always have to make her sound like she was the spawn of satan?

"I believe in love at first sight, sir…and I am not mistaking it with lust, either. I care deeply for Elly. We have a connection. When she is happy, I'm happy. When she hurts, I hurt. I cannot control it, I blame fate. Because honestly, Mr. Brightman, this is not normal for a Malfoy," Draco confessed.

"So who is to say that you won't have a change of heart and throw my daughter away like a piece of used gum?"

Elly thought that was a clever simile.

Draco was disgusted with himself. This was so out of character. If someone had told him last year, that a year later he would be fighting for the approval of the father of someone who he cared about, and actually loved, he would have hexed them. But he now knew that this was the moment of truth. In these few critical words, he had to win Elly's father's approval. He needed to show him that he was not like his father and that he had no desire to end up like his father. He was an individual wanting to make it on his own in this crazy world. And most of all, he wanted Elly with him, even if he was only the tender age of sixteen. "I would never do something like that…I've hurt Elly before, and I've vowed to never do anything like it again."

Elly knew he was talking about when he hit her. Her father would very well kill him if he let that slip.

Elly's father looked at Draco, and then Elly, and then back at Draco again. He did not speak for a long time. The silence was deafening. Finally, he sighed and asked, "Does he make you happy, Ellisabeth?"

"Yeah, dad, he does."


End file.
